Not Getting a Plenty of Fish Verification Code? What to Check

Plenty of Fish verifies your account with a 6-digit code sent by SMS, and that text cannot reach a landline or an internet number like TextNow or Google Phone. Check that the number is typed correctly, and wait for the resend timer to finish before you ask for another code. If you see an Invalid Phone Number error, it can mean too many accounts were created in a short time, or that your country code is not supported.

POF's code arrives as an SMS, and not every number can receive one. Landlines cannot. Neither can internet numbers from apps like TextNow or Google Phone.

If the number on your account is one of those, waiting longer will not help, because the code has nowhere to land. Use a mobile number from a regular phone carrier, one that belongs to you and that you plan to keep.

A work phone is a weak choice for the same reason. The day you change jobs, you lose the number, and every future code goes with it.

A missing code is often nothing more than a wrong digit. Read the number on the screen again, one digit at a time. If you pasted it in from somewhere, delete it and type it by hand instead.

Check the country code in front of it as well. That matters most if you have just moved countries, travel a lot, or are using a number from somewhere other than where you live.

After you ask for a code, POF shows a resend timer. Wait for it to finish before you ask again.

Tapping resend over and over does not make the text come any faster. Give each request the full wait. While you are waiting, check the obvious things on your phone: that you have signal, and that the text has not been filtered into a spam or unknown-senders folder. If you are in a basement, on a train or anywhere with a weak signal, move somewhere better before you ask again.

This error does not always mean you typed the number wrong. POF says it can mean one of two other things:

• Too many accounts were created in a short time. Opening several accounts in quick succession can trigger it. Opening another one will not fix it, so stop there.
• Your country code is not supported. In that case, the problem is where the number is from, not the number itself, and POF's help center is the place to ask.

The first reason carries a lesson. When too many accounts are created in a short time, the number can be refused, so opening a second or third account to get past a problem tends to leave you with a bigger one.

Keep one account, tied to one mobile number that is really yours. If the account is not working for you, change what is on it, the photos, the writing and the first lines you send, rather than starting over again and again.

The code is part of POF's 2-Factor Authentication. It ties your account to a phone you have in your hand. Someone who learns your password still cannot get in without that phone, which protects the account and the conversations on it.

It helps you in a quieter way too. Women on the apps deal with fake accounts, bots and scammers, and they are wary of anything that looks thrown together. An account tied to a real phone, with real photos of you and a page that reads like a person, is the kind of account women feel safe answering.

When the code finally arrives and you are in, pick up where you left off. Answer anyone who wrote to you while you were locked out, starting with the woman closest to a plan. A few days of silence needs one line of explanation, not an apology.

Then think ahead. If you are about to change your phone number or your carrier, sort out the account before the old number stops working, so the next code has somewhere to go.

And use the time you lost as a nudge. If you were locked out for a few days and nobody noticed, your conversations were not moving anyway. Look over your photos and your writing before you start again. Then write to the women you would genuinely take out, keep the first line short and specific, and ask the ones who answer warmly to meet this week.