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Temporary Anonymous Phone Numbers for Craigslist/eBay

6 points by ajayr ↗ HN
http://getroller.com/

A couple of friends hacked together this project. We'd really like to hear feedback from the HN junta. Is it something you'd be interested in using? Try it for free during BETA.

12 comments

[ 1.6 ms ] story [ 32.8 ms ] thread
israelyc
Cool! I've used Google voice on a throwaway gmail account. But this is easier.. Can it receive text messages?
ajayr
not yet, but we're adding that soon. You can decide if you want to enable receiving SMS messages upon signup.
nicc_ap
Its a feature thats definitely coming. As you said, our focus is on making the whole process hassle free.
orangethirty
What stack are you using?
nicc_ap
We are using python and django right now.
dangrossman
I hope Craigslist/eBay are smart enough not to accept your numbers when you have to give a phone number to verify your account (to stop spam/fraud). It should be possible for them to block all numbers not allocated to landlines or cell carriers...
ajayr
We will soon add a mandatory step to authenticate the phone number used to sign up for Roller (just like Craigslist/eBay does). It is our #1 priority to prevent spam/fraud. Thanks for the comment.
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ScottWhigham
Interesting. I don't understand why you would do this though. I understand why criminals or people will malicious intent would love a service like this but I don't understand what makes someone create a business from such uses.

You have in your FAQ, "We will NEVER expose your real phone number or your call history to anyone but you. That is our promise." So you are not going to reveal anything to the FBI, CIA, Homeland Security, etc? That's a bold statement.

ajayr
Thanks for your comment ScottWhigham. If you've sold stuff on Craigslist/eBay, you would definitely know the value of such a service. The number of robo calls you get when you post your real phone number in ads is annoying. It doesn't end there - even weeks/months after your ad has expired and disappeared from Craigslist, you continue to receive marketing calls you didn't ask for and aren't interested in.

There is a reason why most people opt to use the anonymous email address that Craigslist provides while posting ads. We're only making it possible for people to have a similar experience with their phone numbers.

ScottWhigham
Okay - but both craigslist/ebay already have "protection" built in. They each have a proxy type of contact system already - craigslist even has a "roller" system if you will - the email.

If you learned tomorrow that craigslist had created exactly the same service and then added it to their ads, what then?

nicc_ap
Scott, this is a risk for any idea. We believe that we will make it simple yet have lot of additional features that others don't have. If the service itself tries to implement this, it reinforces that we are solving a real problem :). We have our own business model and will continue to implement on them.