I have a website setup and am trying to get ad revenue (wordpress.com site). Issue is that I need a Paypal account, for which I need a phone number and bank account from the same country. I have Canadian bank stuff, but no Canadian phone number. I’ve checked out skype, viber, textnow, openphone, and a few other services but none work (because I’m in Lebanon and they require a phone number to sign up). Any ideas? A VPN won’t work since most services are requiring that I sign in using my phone number, which is Lebanese.
Don’t use PayPal if you can avoid it. There are enough red flags of late to indicate it’s a hard ‘no’.
Many ISPs in the UK have telecoms licences and can create phone numbers. So rather than looking for a phone number, look for a provider that does VoIP and get a new number from them - obviously it will cost.
When I tried the same, all of the free for a few minutes websites I tried had numbers that were known to sites like eBay and I failed.
No idea what Lebanon is like.
Issue is that I need a Paypal account, for which I need a phone number and bank account from the same country. I have Canadian bank stuff, but no Canadian phone number.
I’m in Lebanon
That won’t go well for you long term, Paypal will eventually catch on and permaban you. You’ll also lose whatever funds were in the account during that time.
If you still go through with it I suspect you’ll need to figure out how to buy a non-virtual phone number, just seems like a waste of time since Paypal will eventually add it to their permaban/fraud database.
Google voice?
Honestly, I’ve been using GVoice for a long time as a replacement for my land line. It doesn’t even ring anywhere. It’s the number we give for things like gas rewards and such. It’s been great. I’m actually amazed Google hasn’t killed or enshitified it yet.
It’s so hard to get a number.
You have to search for one that’s available and they are almost always not available. And you have to search by area code. They won’t just tell you which numbers are available.
It’s pretty tedious to try and get a Google voice number.
I didn’t think about that. I’ve only ever used it for 2 things, and only one of them was a new number. That was over 10-years ago.
I live overseas so I regret giving up my number. I don’t use it often, but it was the best if not only free way to call us numbers.
My wife and I increasingly wish we lived overseas!
Pro-tip: don’t use it on job applications.
Many systems auto reject forms with voip numbers to weed out bot traffic.
I’m actually amazed Google hasn’t killed or enshitified it yet.
they’ve already started to: you used to be able to make phone calls using things like tablets, laptops and work stations but they disabled everything except smartphones in favor of duo & meet.
I may be missing something, but why can’t you have the bank account and phone number both in Lebanon?
Probably because PayPal does not allow it.
In which case, their account will get frozen as soon as PayPal gets a whiff, and they’ll lose out on whatever revenue they earn.
JMP.chat is the correct answer, I set up a Canadian number for a friend to use for SMS + calls. Message me if you need help.
JMP.chat can give you a Canadian number.
I can’t recommend specifically but you can search for”. voip number” - there are hundreds. Some may not need a number .
Also, search for “sms verification “. For temporary numbers .
Alternatively a Pay as you go SIM card ?
u can use talkatone app. Even free to receive verification code as call. But better pay to keep the virtual number!
any Canadians here who could just buy the cheapest prepaid sim and send it to OP?
