As an experiment in semi-anonymity, I thought I would see if I could activate my Virgin Mobile Optimus V in a more desirable area code than my own. After a bit of research, I decided to buy a $50 Vanilla Visa prepaid debit card from Walgreens. They claim the card can be used for online purchases, but you’ll need to register the card and provide a zip code for verification. You can enter any zip code you like, and no personal information is required.
I was able to successfully create an account with Virgin Mobile in the desired area code. However, the payment was rejected. One possible reason is that Virgin Mobile may not be able to process a credit card with an expiration date so far in the future. The initial payment form used a text field for expiration year, so I could enter anything I wanted. When I revised my payment method, the web form only allowed selection up to, I believe, 2016. After I changed my payment method to a different, real credit card, the account was activated (though I still had problems with the phone being activated on the network).
So, first off, I’m pretty sure you could get the Virgin Mobile phone number in any area code you want, anyway, because the first step in their registration process asks your zip code. Billing is done at a later point in the process, with its own zip code field. Second, Vanilla Visa cards claim they can be used online, but since they have expiration dates far in the future, the website you want to buy from may not be set up to process them correctly. Basically, the entire process was interesting, but a waste of time.
At some point, it might be fun to try again using a pseudonym. When the online payment fails, one could call and attempt to resolve the payment over the phone. The effort involved would quickly exceed my interest in anonymity, but it might be a fun exercise.
