Swagbucks Phone Verification: Why It’s Needed and How It Works

Swagbucks phone verification is a text-message check that confirms a real person owns the account. Swagbucks asks for it to unlock some features and, if your account is selected, once when you redeem a reward. The rules are strict: the number must be your own mobile number, and each number can verify only one account.

This guide explains when Swagbucks asks for your phone number, which numbers it accepts, how to enter it, and your options if you’d rather not use your main number.

When does Swagbucks ask for your phone number?

Members “may be required to verify their account to gain access to certain features on the site using the Text Verification process.” A separate check can come up when you redeem, and it’s done “one time per user”.

Swagbucks phone verification rules

Swagbucks’ mobile verification rules leave little room:

• Mobile only. No VoIP, landline or Wi-Fi numbers. The number “must be issued by a mobile phone provider”, and Google Voice, Skype and over-the-counter disposable numbers aren’t permitted.
• Your own number. “Phone number and phone account must be your own and not the phone number of another individual.”
• One account per number. “Phone cannot be used to verify more than 1 account in our system.”
• The right format. Put a 1 before the area code, with no parentheses or dashes: 12345678901.

Swagbucks’ formatting example is a US number. If its system won’t take a number, Swagbucks says “that phone number cannot be used to verify this account”.

One account per person

Swagbucks is firm about this: “Please do not create more than one account. Doing so will result in deactivation.” Everyone in a household may have their own account, but “having more than one account for each member is strictly prohibited”. The phone rule backs it up: one number, one account.

Can you use a second number for Swagbucks?

Be careful here. Swagbucks wants your own mobile number and rules out disposable numbers, and a 20-minute rental is exactly that kind of number. Don’t use one for Swagbucks. Your realistic options:

• Your own mobile number. It’s what Swagbucks asks for, and it’s the safest choice.
• The postcard, at redemption. The one-time redemption check can mail your PIN instead of texting it.
• A second number you keep. If you’d still rather not use your main number, rent a PVADeals number long-term (3, 7, 14 or 30 days), turn on auto-renew and use it on your one account only. It’s a real mobile number from a carrier, but Swagbucks decides which numbers it accepts, and its rule is that the number is your own.

To rent one, create a free PVADeals account and add credits (crypto from $3, or a card through Stripe from $5). Choose Swagbucks from the list of websites; if it isn’t listed for your country, rent an All services number instead, which works on any website. The code appears on your PVADeals dashboard as soon as it arrives, and if an eligible number receives no SMS during the rental, its cost comes back to your balance automatically as store credit.

If the code isn’t accepted

• Enter it within 10 minutes of requesting it, and don’t request another in the meantime: a new request replaces the old code.
• Too many attempts? Wait 24 hours or more before trying again.
• Don’t guess. After several wrong codes, Swagbucks says it is “not able to assist further with verification”.
• “In use by another account”? If you recognise the email in the error, log in to that account and contact Customer Support to reclaim the number for your main account.

How to change your Swagbucks phone number

Go to Account Settings, click My Account under Quick Links, and update the Phone section. If that option isn’t there, use the Customer Support link to submit a ticket.

Keep your main number private, within the rules

A long-term non-VoIP number from PVADeals is a second mobile number you keep. See the prices below and our US phone numbers, or read about temporary phone numbers for verification. Earning on Freecash too? Read our guide to Freecash phone verification.