~Nacho/blog

Yay! I’ve something cool to talk about.

It seems my brother is not very good with numbers and managed to block his SIM card by mistyping the PIN code three times in a row. The card is quite old, he inherited it from me time ago and God knows where the proper documentation which came along with it was. In short, we were screwed without the PUK code.

When the card was bought, there wasn’t any active law demanding mobile operators to establish any link between the card and its owner. Given that, I told him it will be hard to get the PUK to unlock the card because most likely the customer service would suspect the card was stolen and its new evil owner was trying to use it. Anyway, why don’t give it a try?

Dialing 1485…

Me: Hello. My cellphone is locked, it is asking for a code in order to get itself unlocked.

Op: What code? PIN code?

Me: Well, no. It requests the PUK code.

Op: I see. Is it a prepaid card?

Me: It is.

Op: Ok, turn off the device, remove the battery, extract the SIM card and tell me the numbers printed on it.

Me: Well… the numbers are: 11111111111111.

Op: Ok, and your phone number is…?

Me: 622222222.

Op: Ok. Your PUK is: 333333333333333.

Me: Thanks.

Op: Thanks for calling. Have a nice day.

Thus anyone who knows your telephone number and wants to read you messages, copy your contact list or call for free only has to steal your phone. You may now start worrying even if the phone was off, the security codes don’t protect your privacy at all.