Virtual phone number

A real phone number used without a physical SIM card in your device, typically rented briefly to receive an SMS verification code.

A virtual phone number is a working number that exists in a carrier network but is not tied to a SIM card in your pocket. The messages it receives are delivered to you through a website or API instead of a handset.

In SMS verification, "virtual" does not mean fake: the number occupies a real range in a national numbering plan, and the service you verify with treats it like any other number. What changes is only where the SMS ends up. MarioSMS rents such numbers for a single verification window.