In the movies, characters can just walk into a store, purchase a phone and just immediately start using it. Is this a real thing in the US?

36 comments

  1. Quite often in American TV shows and movies you see a character go into a convenience store or gas station, pick up a phone (usually a ‘non-smart’ phone in plastic packaging that in real-life you would need a pair of scissors to open) from a shelf, pay for it, walk out into the street, rip open the packaging and immediately make a call before throwing the phone into a trash can. The phone is usually charged, and you never see the person having to sign up to get the SIM registered or whatever.
    Is this actually a thing in the US or just another movie cliché? It seems very risky to me and criminals must love it. In my country, to buy a mobile phone or even a SIM card you have to sign up giving a large amount of info to confirm your identity, such as your drivers license details which are checked against government records etc. Even up until a few years ago there was a limit on how many SIMs could be registered to one person.
    A few years ago there were stories in the media about how local crime groups would import SIM cards bought from a particular company in Mexico because it was one of the few in the world that would sell SIMs without requiring identification. They apparently had ridiculously high global roaming call fees, but the criminals were willing to pay $100 a call in the name of not being able to be tracked.
    I know you shouldn’t believe everything you see in movies, but I have always wondered if burner phones can be purchased in the US as easily as they are in movies and TV shows.

  2. Yes, you can buy phones at stores. A major brand is Tracphone though there are others out there.

    You usually have to load minutes either by calling a 1800 number or purchasing a prepaid card.

  3. For the large part, pretty much. Afaik, most budget carriers don’t require identity checks unless you’re entering a financing deal over a phone purchase, and many prepaid SIM plans can be activated immediately after purchasing with no further information.

  5. It’s not nearly as quick. But yes you can walk into a store and buy a prepaid phone for pretty cheap, with cash, and within 30 minutes, have a working phone.

  6. It’s 100% possible, and nearly as easy as portrayed. You also have to activate it, and possibly charge it and add minutes (though they often come with 30 or 60 minutes included), but you can go from buying one to using it in 10 minutes, and you’re not required to identify yourself at any point in the process. They can probably connect the number to your credit card if you paid with one, but there’s nothing stopping you from paying cash instead.

  7. I’m more surprised that this isn’t normal wherever your country is. Burner phones are cheap and don’t require a contract, which seems very useful to lots of people.

  9. Yeah. There are some places in the Chicago airport that sell them i saw a bit ago. And while the untracability is probably exaggerated in media, our law enforcement agencies have openly admitted they can’t really track calls from burner phones very well, so criminals do use them. The primary users are probably not criminals though, they’re people for whatever reason temporarily need two phones.

  11. You can buy one and use it the same day, but they skip showing the account setup process because that’s boring to watch.

  12. Yes and I don’t see how this is unique in any way. In almost every country tourists are encouraged to buy an e-sim to use during their visit and you really don’t need to provide identity verification or anything to get one of those.

    It’s effectively the same as buying a temporary prepaid phone except you keep your own device, the carrier and the government both are unaware of who you actually are.

  14. Basically yeah. Like a lot of other things in movies they skip the boring parts in favor of keeping things moving.

    You can just walk into a store, even some gas stations and buy a burner phone. With just cash and nothing else.

    Some come with minutes on them already, others you might have to load. The phones usually don’t have much charge so you probably need to charge them too.

  15. There must be hundreds of totally legitimate reasons for burner phones, and if you can come up with them, please send your suggestions to Donald Trump’s lawyer, Mr. Rudy Giuliani, Esq. He seemed to have quite a collection. He discovered, however, that their presence was not as anonymous as he would have preferred, given persistent investigators.

  16. Yes, you buy a carrier unlocked or prepaid phone who can be a cheap as $10. You can get them on Amazon. I bought a $30 one to play ads for beer money in college. My roommate had like 10 of them. We didn’t activate them but if we wanted to all we had to do was go to the store and buy a prepaid sim.

    Price was $0.10/minute or text when I had a prepaid plan with T-Mobile in HS. Add $20 and you have over 3 hours.

  18. Yes. I’ve gave out phones to “Jesus Christ” “Michael Jackson” and all sorts of other crazy names when I worked in wireless.

  20. You don’t technically even have to activate the phone. There are wifi phone apps that you can use instead of the carrier. As long as you have wifi you can make calls.

  21. I work at a major retailer, and for less than $50 you can get a Tracfone flip phone and 3 months of service. Phones usually have at least a 60% charge, and activating them takes about 15-20 minutes for a new number. All they ask for is the devices IMEI number and the pin from the phone card and the zip code.

    Some providers want to set up a security pin, but really you can be totally anonymous with your phone.

  22. Yeah, they’re around at just about anywhere that sells electronics. 

    Why would a prepaid phone be hard to get?

  24. I’ve seen them in gas stations/trucks stops. Though, now that I think of it, I haven’t seen this in ages.

  29. Yes. Depending on the specific phone and carrier, you’ll spend anywhere from a few minutes to half an hour getting it set up and activated, but phones don’t require identification here. You can even buy 100% reputable phone plans without identification. My legitimate phone plan is through Google fi, and I accidentally attached it to a Google account named Guy McFuck.

  32. I would say you can do this in roughly 25% of countries around the world.

    Some others require SIM card registration with official ID before use. And some only require you to do it later, so for the first few days you can use the phone without registering. But there’s a whole lot where you can pick up a prepaid SIM and start using it immediately without showing any ID to anyone.

  33. Actually yes. Go to an atm withdraw money go across town to your local best buy/walmart and buy a prepaid phone. It really is that simple.

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