Google Voice Verification Scam
![Google Voice Verification Scam](/content/images/size/w960/2023/07/pop_art_image_of_suspicious_looking_man_holding_a_c_30d26f11-1062-4c9b-b393-9f4645ee51ce.png)
If you hang around Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, etc., you might run into this phishing scam.
Has anyone ever messaged you that they want to send you a code to verify that you're a real person?
If they do, absolutely do not give them that code!
Here's the setup:
To establish a Google Voice forwarding account, you have to have an actual phone number to base it on. Google verifies this phone number by sending you a private key code. You paste the private key into the Google Voice form which associates your real phone number with the Google Voice phone number.
![](https://www.wirebiters.com/content/images/2023/07/GoogleVoice-Logo6-down.jpg)
Essentially someone is trying to set up a fake/burner phone number where it will not trace back to them. The most likely reason for this would be to do more scamming, but I could see it being used for other illegal means as well. Use your imagination.
Here's someone trying to use this method to phish me over an aquarium I was selling on Facebook Marketplace. There's a pun there somewhere...
![](https://www.wirebiters.com/content/images/2023/07/1.png)
![](https://www.wirebiters.com/content/images/2023/07/2.png)
![](https://www.wirebiters.com/content/images/2023/07/3.png)
At this point, I realized what was going on so I decided to ask what nefarious purpose my phone number would be used for.
![](https://www.wirebiters.com/content/images/2023/07/5.png)
![](https://www.wirebiters.com/content/images/2023/07/6.png)
Unfortunately, my new friend decided to stop responding after that. I offered him a guest spot on this post to share his thoughts, but his silence spoke louder than words.
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