Short answer: if someone you just met on a dating or personals site asks you to move to Zangi, Telegram, Signal, Kik or text right away, treat it as a warning sign. Once you move, the site where you met can no longer review those messages or enforce its messaging rules inside that conversation. The FTC describes that early move as a common step in romance scams, and the FBI warns about it in dating-site scams.
Moving later, after a real conversation and when you both want to, is normal.
AseeksB is a personals app, and this is the reasoning behind one of our guidelines: early conversations stay in the app. When we checked other personal-ad sites in October 2026, some New York ads gave Kik, Telegram or Zangi handles. Below is what the Zangi app is, what it and the other apps offer someone who wants to stay hidden, the scams that usually follow, and when moving is fine. It matters: in 2025, people reported losing $929 million to confidence and romance fraud in complaints to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
Zangi is a free messaging and calling app made by Secret Phone, Inc. Instead of your phone number, it gives every user a 10-digit “Zangi Number.” It doesn’t ask for a phone number, email or SIM card to sign up, and there is no search: someone can reach you only if they know your exact Zangi Number. Zangi says messages and calls are end-to-end encrypted and that it doesn’t store messages, calls, files or media on its servers. It presents itself as a private space for friends and family.
It depends on who you’re talking to. As a private messenger for people you already know, Zangi is built for privacy: no phone number, encrypted messages, and, by its own account, no message history kept on its servers. We found no independent security audit of those claims.
But privacy is not identity verification. Encryption can protect a conversation from outsiders. It can’t tell you whether the person on the other end is who they say they are.
As a place to get to know a stranger, Zangi isn’t designed for that, and it says so. Its terms of use describe it as built for “private communication between people who already know each other and don’t require verification of identity,” and say that anyone who uses it otherwise takes on the risk of scams and fraud. Zangi asks for no phone number or email at sign-up, so a Zangi Number tells you nothing about the person behind it.
The features that protect ordinary users are also useful to someone who wants to stay hidden:
We found no warning from the FTC or FBI that names Zangi, and reputable reporting on it is thin. One romance report on the Better Business Bureau’s Scam Tracker, submitted in January 2025, describes a contact first met on Facebook who suggested moving the chat: “she said we should switch to Zangi, which is a more private messenger app.” The pattern itself is well documented. The FTC puts it simply: “You meet someone on a site or app, and they want to move the conversation off the platform.”
On October 4, 2026, we opened the 20 newest New York ads on each personal-ad site we could read without an account and counted the ones that asked readers to move off-site or offered paid services:
Twenty ads is one day in one city. The full results, and how we counted, are in our comparison of Craigslist Personals alternatives.
Zangi isn’t the only destination. The FTC reported in 2023 that romance scammers often “quickly moved the sweet talk to WhatsApp, Google Chat, or Telegram,” and New Jersey’s Division of Consumer Affairs has named Kik and Viber. Each of these is a legitimate app used by millions of people. Here is what each offers a stranger:
| App | Phone number to sign up? | Can a stranger reach you without your number? | Messages that disappear |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zangi | No. You get a 10-digit Zangi Number | Only with your exact Zangi Number | None found in its own pages |
| Telegram | Yes, or an anonymous number from the Fragment platform | Yes, by username | Self-destruct timers, and either person can delete any message in a one-on-one chat for both sides |
| Signal | Usually; Signal has started offering an optional sign-up without one on Android | Yes, by username; your number is hidden by default | Disappearing messages, up to 4 weeks |
| Viber | Yes | Mainly in Communities, where numbers are hidden | A self-destruct timer |
| Kik | No; you pick a username | Yes, by username | None found in its store listings |
From each app’s own website, help pages or store listings, checked October 5, 2026.
Telegram. On Telegram, a username lets someone chat without either side seeing a phone number, and either person can delete any message in a one-on-one chat for both sides (Telegram FAQ). Telegram does flag accounts that many users have reported as scams, with a warning to be careful, “especially if it asks you for money.”
Signal. Signal is built for privacy, and its usernames can be changed whenever the owner likes. Signal’s own safety page is blunt: “Signal does not verify profile names or identities.” It suggests verifying identity over a video call.
Viber and Kik. Viber needs a phone number, but its Communities let people message each other with numbers hidden. Kik doesn’t need a phone number; you sign up with a username.
The FTC describes this one targeting people who post items for sale or lost-pet notices, and personal ads fit the same pattern. Someone answers your post, says they’ve heard about fake listings and want to check you’re a real person, and asks you to read back a code that has just been sent to your phone. The scammer uses the code to set up a Google Voice number linked to your phone number, and may then use that number to cheat other people while hiding who they are.
Never share a verification code with anyone who asks for it. If you already have, Google lets you reclaim your number from Google Voice.
In April 2024 the FBI warned about a scheme aimed at people on dating apps. The match moves the chat to an encrypted messaging app, then asks you to complete a “free” verification, supposedly to protect against predators, on a site that wants your name, phone number, email and credit card number. The charges show up on your statement later. The FBI’s advice matches our guideline:
“Avoid moving the conversation from a reputable dating site’s messaging service, since many of these offer some safety features.”
AseeksB’s guidelines name most of these. They fall into a few groups:
Not every request is a scam. But when the very first message asks you to move, before any real conversation, the move itself is the warning sign.
Even then, share only what you’re comfortable with. A Zangi Number or a Signal username can be shared without handing over your phone number.
Everything above is why our profile and message guidelines say:
“Asking someone to move to Kik, Telegram, Signal, WeChat, Zangi or any other app right away, before you’ve actually talked here, is one of the most common signs of spam and scams.”
Moving someone off the app right away may result in a ban. Once you’ve been messaging for a while and you both want to continue elsewhere, that’s fine. The app is built around the same idea:
More on how this works is on our Safety & Moderation page.
Zangi is a free messaging and calling app made by Secret Phone, Inc. Instead of your phone number, it gives each user a 10-digit Zangi Number, and it doesn't ask for a phone number or email to sign up. Someone can reach you only if they know your exact Zangi Number. Zangi says messages and calls are end-to-end encrypted and that it doesn't store messages, calls, files or media on its servers.
For talking privately with people you already know, Zangi is built for privacy. But privacy is not identity verification: encryption protects a conversation from outsiders, and it can't tell you whether the person on the other end is who they say they are. Zangi's terms of use say it is designed for people who already know each other and don't need their identity verified, and that anyone who uses it otherwise takes on the risk of scams and fraud.
A Zangi Number isn't tied to a phone number, Zangi says it doesn't store messages on its servers, and once a conversation moves there, the dating or personals site where you met can no longer review those messages or enforce its rules inside that conversation. If the site removes the person's ad, they can still reach you.
On Telegram, a username lets someone chat without either side seeing a phone number, and either person can delete any message in a one-on-one chat for both sides. The FTC reported in 2023 that romance scammers often move conversations to WhatsApp, Google Chat or Telegram.
If it's in the first message, before any real conversation, yes. The FTC describes an early move off the platform as a common step in romance scams, and the FBI warns about it in dating-site scams. Moving later, after you've talked and when you both want to, is normal.
Someone who answers your post says they want to check you're real and asks for a code sent to your phone. The code lets them set up a Google Voice number linked to your phone number, which they can use to scam other people. Never share a verification code. If you already have, you can reclaim your number from Google Voice.
AseeksB publishes this page and is a personals app itself. No app or site named here pays us, and there are no referral links.