Phone sex is a paid, adult conversation by telephone. In the UK, commercial phone sex lines use premium rate numbers, which are regulated by the Phone-paid Services Authority and can cost several pounds a minute. It involves no meeting, which makes it a different thing from booking an escort, and its risks are mostly to your wallet.
How it works
A phone sex line connects a caller to an operator or a recorded service. The numbers start with 09, and adult services use numbers that begin 098. You pay a service charge for each minute on top of your network’s access charge, and at the time of writing the charge can be as much as £3.60 a minute. The price must be stated clearly in the advert and at the start of the call. Some services work instead through paid chat on websites and apps, charged by the minute or by the message.
The rules
Phone-paid services are regulated by the Phone-paid Services Authority, under a code of practice approved by Ofcom. Providers must give clear and accurate pricing, advertise honestly, and promote adult services appropriately. If you are charged more than you were told, or you feel misled, you can complain to the Phone-paid Services Authority and to your phone provider.
Costs and scams to watch for
- The running meter. Long waits, menus and slow operators all add minutes. Watch the time from the first second.
- “Free” or “cheap” offers. An advert for a free chat that sends you to a premium number.
- Subscriptions. A service that texts you after one call and keeps charging.
- Being kept on the line. Operators who keep the call going without much content.
Set a limit before you call, check your bill, and ask your provider to bar premium rate numbers if you would rather not be able to call them by accident.
Phone sex, sexting and webcams
Phone sex is spoken. Sexting is sending messages or images, and between adults who agree it is lawful. Sharing an intimate image without consent, or threatening to, is an offence, and blackmail with images is common. DTF meaning covers the safety basics, and safety and help has the contacts.
Phone sex and escorts
Some escorts offer phone or video sessions as a separate service, priced by the minute or by the session. It is not the same as a meeting, and the terms are agreed in advance like any other booking. How booking works covers the first message, and what escorts charge has the measured London rates for in person bookings.