The custom of giving out a fake phone number is as old as the custom of courtship itself. There were probably people giving out false addresses to redirect unwanted love letters to long before phones existed. This is a practice that isn't going anywhere and is only getting better with new technology. Case in point -- PHOX, a new service that's making this easier than ever before.

PHOX was developed by Ivycorp as a tool to protect people's private phone numbers. PHOX specifically defines itself as a service, which separates it from the handful of messaging apps that protect your number but don't necessarily protect you from the app accessing your personal data.

Here's how it works. For a monthly fee of $4.95 for 100 text messages or $9.95 for unlimited, PHOX gives you a fake number you can give to Tinder randos, Craigslist users you buy IKEA furniture from, Uber drivers or anyone who you don't feel comfortable giving your real number to. PHOX routes the communication coming into your fake number to your private number, so that you receive texts from these strangers as you normally would on your phone. But when you respond to them, the response comes from your phony number, so the person never knows they're getting PHOXed.

It may be a little deceptive, but that doesn't make it mean-spirited. It's hard to decide to give someone your number. It's even harder to decide if it's worth the trouble to give someone a fake one, along with the guilt that ensues immediately after. With PHOX you don't have to write off communication completely and can give yourself a chance to warm up to them if the situation moves in that direction.

PHOX, because it's hard to say, "You're charming, but so are serial killers."

H/T Cosmopolitan.com