Of course you wouldn’t use a domain you don’t own in examples and automated test cases. So why would you use a phone number you don’t own?
Did you know that several countries reserve “example phone numbers” for use in books, movies, and other fictional contexts?
The fictional US 555 prefix is probably the most well-known example.
In any Hollywood movie or American video game where you spot a phone number, you can be sure that the number starts with 555. More specifically, all numbers between 555-0100 and 555-0199 can be freely used in fictional settings.
In Sweden, Post- och telestyrelsen (PTS) has also reserved a range of phone numbers. They include both mobile numbers and landline numbers from Gothenburg, Malmö, Stockholm, and Kiruna.
Mobile phones: 070-174 06 05 – 070-174 06 99
Gothenburg: 031-390 06 00 – 031-390 06 99
Malmö: 040-628 04 00 – 040-628 04 99
Stockholm: 08-465 004 00 – 08-465 004 99
Kiruna: 0980-319 200 – 0980-319 299
So 070-174 06 78, 031-390 06 90, and 0980-319 219 are all great choices.
Aside from books and movies, you can use these numbers in automated tests and test customer records instead of typing random digits that look like a phone number, but risk belonging to someone.
And you really don’t want a misconfigured system to accidentally call or text a random stranger.
Use reserved phone numbers for examples was first published 2026‑06‑23
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