Science & Technology: Ebay Classified Ads Verifies Cell Phone Numbers

The aim is to increase security on the portal and, last but not least, have an eye on those “who, under the guise of supposed anonymity, sexually harass children, adolescents and young women in particular”.

Regardless of the verification, advertisers would still be able to decide individually for each advertisement whether and which phone number should be visible to others. A landline number can also be verified, but only if SMS can be sent and received via the respective connection and the respective telephone. Because the six-digit verification code comes via a short message. Only numbers from EU countries are verified.

The new measure will be launched gradually over the next four weeks in the categories “babysitting & childcare”, “mini & part-time jobs”, “animal care & training”, “tutoring” and “internships”. Anyone who places an advertisement in these areas or who gets in touch in response to an advertisement is requested to provide their telephone number and to verify this with the SMS code.

However, all users can already voluntarily enter a phone number in their account settings. In the next step, according to the information, phone numbers will be verified when registering for new registrations. And gradually, all other users should then be asked to provide a phone number. In the future, SMS verification could also play a role in fraud prevention measures on the portal.