97% of In the modern era, every American has a cell phone. One phone, however, is insufficient for some people. Having a second phone can occasionally be helpful for keeping your personal and professional lives separate or for protecting your privacy. However, if you’ve ever watched an action film or a crime drama, you are likely aware of the many other applications for second phones.
Each generation’s use of slang changes. Some are more well-liked than others and eventually enter the language. Certain demographics, such as teenagers or young adults, are linked to particular slang terms. “Trap phone” is one slang term that has found its way into the common language. However, what does it actually mean and when should you use it? For more information on the solutions, keep reading.
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What Is A Trap Phone?
“Trap phone” is a slang term for a second phone, or burner phone, that is often used by criminals to conduct illegal activity. These phones are untraceable, which means that while they can be used to communicate with others, they don’t contain any details that could be used to identify the owner personally.
Due to the ease with which they enable communication and deal-making without running the risk of being apprehended by law enforcement, trap phones are widely used in drug deals and other criminal activities.
History Of The Phrase Trap Phone
The 1990s saw a rise in the popularity of the slang trap phone. Rappers began singing and talking about them in the late 1990s to the early 2000s, and this is when they became widely popular. Many rap and hip-hop songs about drugs also reference “trapping” which means selling drugs or other illegal items to make money quickly.
What Is A Trap Phone Used For?
Trap phones are designed to be thrown away after use in order to prevent their tracking using cell tower identification data. In the past, they were typically inexpensive prepaid phones that could be purchased at gas stations, pharmacies, etc.
A trap phone doesn’t need to be a tangible second device any more thanks to technological advancements. There are a ton of apps that serve as trap phones, allowing users to place calls that cannot be traced back to their primary phone.
How Do Trap Phones Operate?
The traditional concept of a trap (burner) phone is that the phone is physically discarded after use. This is what rendered them untraceable because, even if police were to find the phone, it could not be linked to a specific location.
However, using a trap phone is not always criminal. In fact, using a burner phone can help protect your identity by shielding your personal phone number from spammers and scammers who are attempting to commit fraud or other robocrimes.
But today, buying a pre-paid phone to then discard it seems a little archaic. Today’s burner phones operate somewhat differently from their predecessors. You can now replicate the same concept using a program like Burner.
The burner works as a second phone number that acts as a “middleman” between a received call and your personal phone number. To maintain your anonymity, calls are forwarded from the burner number to your phone. Furthermore, when you call someone, your burner number—not your own—will appear on the caller ID.
It’s like having a “trap phone” inside of your shiny new iPhone. Additionally, you don’t actually need to throw away your device if you ever want to delete your burner number.
What Does Hacking Do?
While LTE capabilities and other high-tech features on modern mobile phones greatly simplify some aspects of life, they also pose a threat to individual privacy. Furthermore, breaking into modern phones is much simpler than breaking into older ones.
Any technique that allows someone to gain unauthorized access to a phone is considered phone hacking. It could be a simple security breach where someone uses your phone to access personal data, or it could be a sophisticated hacking attack where someone remotely controls your phone to steal your identity.
Since typical “trap phones” used by criminals don’t contain much personal information on them, to begin with, they often can’t be hacked in a traditional sense to try to gain the whereabouts of the owner.
Similarly to this, apps like Burner can’t be tracked since their burner numbers are unconnected to your phone’s actual number and are completely independent of it.
When To Use A Trap Phone?
“Trap phones” don’t need to be used for criminal activity. In reality, a burner phone can be useful in a wide variety of situations in daily life.
One advantage of having a second phone number is that it can be used to shield a person’s primary number from phishing calls, calls from ominous numbers, and other security risks. Don’t share your personal phone number with anyone you don’t fully trust. You can use a burner number for all other purposes.
Additionally, if your job requires you to make numerous calls from your personal phone, it might be a good idea to use a burner number. Your personal number will be concealed by a different number, ensuring that neither it nor any other private information will ever fall into the wrong hands.
What Happens If My Phone Is Hacked?
The first step you should take if you believe your phone has been compromised is to get in touch with any financial services that hold your credit card or bank account information. Because most hackers and cybercriminals are motivated by money, you should freeze your cards and notify your bank before any significant damage is done.
Change all of your passwords as well to ensure that any compromised accounts can no longer be accessed. Contact your mobile carrier or the manufacturer of your phone for additional instructions if you’re still having problems and believe your phone has been compromised.
Where Can I Buy A Trap Phone?
You can get reasonably priced phones with activation codes or pre-paid sim cards at your neighborhood cellular store if you want to get a physical burner phone. But if you already have a smartphone, you can also use the Burner app to obtain a second (or third, or fourth) burner number.
FAQs
What Means Burner Phones?
A pay-as-you-go cellphone that is used to maintain privacy. Each party makes use of a burner phone, which is quickly discarded and frequently used for illicit transactions. What exactly is a burner phone? A burner is an inexpensive mobile phone that is designed for temporary use, after which it may be discarded. Burners are purchased without a contract using pre-paid minutes.
Is it possible to track prepaid phones? Prepaid phones can also be tracked using the traditional, albeit less accurate, method of cellular triangulation. Locating a prepaid phone’s owner is still challenging, even with these features enabled.
Can Police Track Burner Phones?
After burning a number, there’s no way that anybody will be able to trace your burner phone. All information, including voicemails, photos, and messages, will be deleted. Which mobile devices can’t be tracked? The majority of these phones (as well as prepaid cards) can be found in big-box stores both domestically and abroad.
The Takeaway
Burner phones can be thought of as trap phones. Even though they are associated with crime and dubious dealings, not everyone who owns a trap phone uses it for criminal activity. A second phone number, however, need not be used for illegal purposes. In fact, using a burner number can aid in defending your identity against risky con artists or identity theft.
