Try Wal Mart.

Swim

I went to an AT&T store to pick up a burner phone, but was asked to show a photo ID with my current address.  Kinda defeats the purpose of having an anonymous phone for my hobbying.  Can anyone suggest typical outlets for prepaid cell phones that will take cash and not ask any questions?

Thanks!
JT

They can be purchased at convience stores to like 7-11 no id required.

I learned recently that Walmart has better selection when I decided to upgrade to a $30 Tracfone with a qwerty keyboard and Bluetooth.

Thanks for the replies.

I have seen these Tracfones at the grocery store and Radio Shack as well.  Is the setup the same at any vendor?  ie: can I pay cash and walk away with a Tracfone without showing a photo id or asked for an address, etc?

Thanks again...
JT

It's simple walk into the store, by a phone and a time card pay cash. That's it.  You can activate the phone once you get home. Don't give them your real info when prompted on activation.

It's an el-cheapo from Virgin Mobile.

I once got a prepay phone from radio shack, they wanted info to set it up and I just said it was a gift for a co worker and gave them a phony name, they set it up using generic info. No problem.

Sure, but you don't have to tell them anything.  I used a cock-and-bull story that my daughter had  lost her iPhone again and her punishment was this shitty little life-line phone.  So I didn't want her personal info in it (or mine) in case it was lost.  But the story was really unecessary.

Everybody stresses the importance of not buying a hobby phone with a credit card, but I'm not so sure it makes much difference, unless you're trying to hide it from your wife or something. It leaves a paper trail showing that you bought a phone, but I don't think it connects your identity to that particular phone or phone number.

What's REALLY most important is that you don't register your phone. It's also not a good idea to use the phone to add minutes. Buy a minutes card in a store. Here again, whether you pay with cash or credit doesn't make much difference as far as connecting you to those minutes. Unless anybody knows otherwise.

All that said, I've paid cash for my Tracfones and minutes, just to be on the safe side.

IMHO, this is not important unless you are committing a major crime where LE would get a warrant for phone records, come up blank and then get another warrant to trace the payments.   Unless there's a (dead) body in the room you just left, I can't see the pressing need.   On the other hand, nothing wrong with using cash.  
Do you wear a disguise when you buy your minutes?   If the phone was the only link to a felony (doubtful) LE could go to the corner convience store & watch the security footage to pick you out buying the minutes...  

In my limited experience, it is important to keep separation between your civie life & hobby life.  Keep your civie phone clean, your email separate, don't use your CC someplace you should not be...   If you decided to quit the hobby, close the hobby email, throw away the phone...  

Don't you have to use a computer to activate the phone?

That can be traced, right?

Is there a way around this?

Tracfone's instructions may make it look at first glance like the only option is using your computer and giving your real name, CC number, etc.

That's so that they can sell you stuff. It's optional.

Some other prepaids are similar, according to others' posts here.

be advisable. And not just so that your neighbors won't spot you and call you white trash.

On my register receipt for my Tracfone, there are a shitload of long numbers that I bet uniquely identify the phone. It must be why the package reads, "Phone cannot be activated until scanned at register." (So don't shoplift your Tracfone.) For LE to track down the transaction and security footage might be easier than we fear. Still probably not likely to happen for anything short of a murder investigation, though.

So put that Nixon mask on your hobbyist shopping list.

Thanks!