This is why I use things like Firefox Relay's email/phone masking for sites and services I don't trust. Would be interested if people know of free alternatives, as the phone mask requires their premium plan, and that can be a no-go for friends and family.
It helps somewhat, but unless you give a unique number to every single friend, business, bank, store, your real number will find its way into data breaches sooner or later. Heck AT&T and T-Mobile have themselves had large scale hacks in the last few years.
I mean it's better than nothing :/ Firefox's mobile mask is only one number, but I haven't seen any better alternatives. I do think I get significantly less spam/scam calls and texts than everyone else I know. But even if you had a unique number per service, I don't think that'll stop them entirely. If you've ever had to get a new number, as you say, it's probably already leaked somewhere whether or not you share it anywhere.
