Phone sex refers to sexual conversations between two persons over the telephone, either commercially, or for mutual pleasure, for example by separated lovers. Such conversations can be highly graphic and are not recommended for sensitive or easily offended persons. At the same time, phone sex is popular enough that premium rate telephone numbers are reserved in liberal countries whereby callers can transfer their money to skilled phone sex practitioners. In other countries, these services bill by credit card, or use kickbacks from high-rate international call tariffs to charge for their services.
Phone sex practitioners are not chosen for their looks, but for their voices. The descriptions they give to the caller of themselves are often entirely invented. The point of phone sex, of course, is to help the partner in achieving orgasm through masturbation; "phone sex" is frequently put in quotation marks because sex is usually associated with at least touching each other.
During the course of a phone sex session, the partner may fantasize about doing something which they obviously cannot ("I am touching you now"), or they may pretend to be doing something which could actually be happening ("I am touching myself"), or actually do it (typically not the case for commercial phone sex workers). Simulated activities can range from masturbation to sexual intercourse, but can also include sado-masochistic fantasies. Many phone sex services are highly specialized: nurses fetish, gay sex, mature women, humiliation etc. The spectrum of phone sex offers reflects the wide and often bizarre spectrum of human sexual behavior.
Phone sex can be quite expensive, and in countries where it is legal, it is usually aggressively advertised. Parents sometimes find out that their children have engaged in such activities only when the next phone bill arrives. Some telephone companies allow their customers to block outgoing calls by specific number ranges to make it impossible to call such services. Regardless, phone sex has led to some political scandals, where public officials had to resign because their activities (often using taxpayer-funded telephone lines) were discovered.
When the type of commercial phone lines that allow a high cost per call are used for wire fraud, this is often confused with phone sex, and a person who is the victim of a computer program (a "dialer") that calls such a phone line may find themselves accused of in engaging in activity that is perceived as immoral.
Phone sex is very similar to cybersex, although the latter is typically free of charge.
