I'd like to get a cell phone exclusively for hobbying that is not traceable to my civilian life. There are numerous options for pay-as-you-go, but as far as I can tell every one of them requires you give the service provider personal identifying information before they're activated. I.e., they are NOT anonymous.
Anybody know different?
Thanks
I have one of the pay as you go phones and I used all false information when I signed up for the service...Worked for me!!
That's what I do, too- use false information. I'm with Virgin Mobile. The top-up cards I get (to add minutes), I can purchase from Best Buy, etc. There are a few different plans with the phone, only one of which uses a credit card. The only time I've needed to give out any sort of information is when I activated my phone.
A proper Southern lady would never do such a thing!
But as Clark Gable said...I've never had much interest in "ladies". 
You can buy one in Walmart/Target/Kmart for cash. To activate it you have to call from a landline phone. If you are that worried call from your office or a friend's house. You can use false information but remember it because when you add airtime it asks for your birthdate.
I've had mine for over 6 months and it works fine.
I use a TracFone as was suggested above. I really like having this type of prepaid acount; it works very well especially for our hobby calls. Just remember to pay cash for the phone and/or airtime card purchase(s) and nothing is traceable back to you.
You should never have a problem, unless you get careless, and allow it to be found. This cheap little phone like others records a call log of incoming and outgoing calls, but I'm sure we all know by now how to delete this after an appointment.
Yeah, planned on false info, but good tip on remembering it. At least one of the plans (GoPhone?) states right on the box that you'll need a cc even for cash-based. That's what I couldn't fake.
I'll be visiting Target for a TracPhone at lunch and activate from the phone of a guy I can't stand at work 
Go on ebay, and search for 'T-Mobile Prepaid Sim Card'. When it arrives, slot it in the back of any unlocked GPRS cell phone (either buy one on ebay, or have one of your own unlocked) and away you go.
The card comes with a set amount of pre paid minutes , usually 100, and a pre set phone number. You can change the number easily, and to re fill minutes you just buy re fill cards as you would for any other phone.
Simple as can be.
Morgan
ps: customer service has never asked me for my name, or any other information. All I did was set a PIN number for when/if I call back to speak with them again. I was also able to have the sim card delivered to me in Canada, and am using it in an unlocked Rogers Cellular phone.
-- Modified on 10/20/2005 11:58:41 AM
You don't need a LAN phone. You can set it up online with a throwaway email address. It does ask for name, address info and date of birth, but far as I know it never confirms if any of this is remotely accurate. You can do this on any public terminal if you are really worried about anonymity.
You will always have to pay for pop-ups in cash, if you want to be untraceable.
Pay cash for the "pay as you go" phone, pay cash for the "per minute cards". No credit card trace, no monthly statement, no nothing.
Keep it in a very safe and descrete place. If I told you where I keep mine, I'd have to shoot you. LOL
The question has come up many times before (at least 3 times) and I have said the same thing. You can buy alot of prepaid phones at 7-11, but their own has to be completely anonyomus.
I went through all the options of pre-paided (researched them), and I settled on 7-11's Speakout. It's already active when you take it out of the box. They paid Cingular to use their backbone, so there is alot of coverage. They use SIM cards, so if you don't like their phone (they have several), you can move it to another. You keep the number for a year and every time you recharge it, the year is extended from that point. Finally, it's $0.20 a minute, which isn't bad.
Hope that Helps. I have to stop give away my secret. ;P
http://www.7-eleven.com/products/product_categories.asp?catalog%5Fname=7ElevenNew&category%5Fname=Cash+%26+Communication
http://www.7-eleven.com/products/product_detail.asp?catalog%5Fname=7ElevenNew&category%5Fname=Cash+%26+Communication&subcategory%5Fname=Cash+%26+Communication&product%5Fid=1012&thumb=1