Mobile Phone Sims Lock

[higgy88]

I have the cheapest Nokia phone I could buy, and use the prepaid sims card. I don´t make a lot of calls, but like to have it just in case I need it, so I use the best service for that type of usage. The phone was not locked when I bought it. I first used it with AIS one to call, and then changed to True Move. I now decided to change to DTAC happy, but cannot use it because the phone was sims locked and can now only be used with True Move sims cards (I tried two). I went back to the phone store I always go to, and trust. The owner, who can speak a little English, called True for me so the conversation I had with True was through the store owner. They told her that I had requested that the phone be locked. I said, ¨absolutely no way" and they came back with they would not have locked it unless I told them to. I said ¨fine, unlock it please¨, and they said that once it was locked they could not unlock it. I made sure the owner of the store ended the conversation with I would never use any True product again, and I am pretty sure their unspoken response was that they did not care. The store ¨shot the lock¨ for me and charged me 150 baht for their service and I am now using DTAC as I wanted to. My questions is this. How were they able to lock my phone without my knowledge and/or permission, and how can I protect myself from this happening again? In doing a little bit of research, it appears that they made have done this through an SMS message from them that I had looked at, which I do get a lot of, so I am now never going to look at another SMS message again. Could this have been the way they did it, and would not looking at any SMS messages protect me? Thanks for any suggestions.

[skippybangkok]

Dont doubt the symptoms, not sure about the root cause. If an operator wanted to lock you, they could do it on the system ( IMEI i think ) fasted and easier, so no need to frig with your hand set. ( sending sms's loads the infra sms structure, the back end network is alot more capable and powerfull).

I dont think there are contract handsets with thai operators ( i.e. buy subsidized hand set, and have to stay with operator).

Doubt SMS would be the method. Not sure about the cause, maybe family playing with ur phone, accidently locked it, put it down ?

Best wishes, but this sounds very wierd to me.

[Thanh-BKK]

Hello

In order to assist you, i need some information:

1) which phone is it? (Make, i.e. "Nokia", and model, i.e. "3230")

2) WHAT does the phone do when you put in another, i.e. D-TAC, SIM card? Please tell me EXACTLY what it displays.

That second one is important because it determines which way your phone was initially locked, such as by provider ("SIM card rejected") or by user ("Enter security code").

Phones CAN be locked from the provider via a "push message", that is an SMS that does not show up on the screen, or a "service message" that activates the moment the user looks at it. It is true that a phone, locked that way, can NOT be unlocked the same way!

HOWEVER it is possible to unlock most phones with a certain key, which has to be provided by the network it is locked to (here True), yet it is very likely that nobody at True knows how to do it because SIM lock has NOT been used in Thailand for several years.

If the phone in question is a Nokia of DCT-3 or DCT-4 generation, there exist free online "calculators" to unlock such phone, however some more information is required (IMEI number, network codes) and it is tricky.

What you can always do is bring the phone to Mahboonkrong (MBK) fourth floor and get it unlcoked there. Cost you 100 or 150 Baht depending on what phone and done

With best regards.....

THanh

[higgy88]

Hello

In order to assist you, i need some information:

1) which phone is it? (Make, i.e. "Nokia", and model, i.e. "3230")

2) WHAT does the phone do when you put in another, i.e. D-TAC, SIM card? Please tell me EXACTLY what it displays.

That second one is important because it determines which way your phone was initially locked, such as by provider ("SIM card rejected") or by user ("Enter security code").

Phones CAN be locked from the provider via a "push message", that is an SMS that does not show up on the screen, or a "service message" that activates the moment the user looks at it. It is true that a phone, locked that way, can NOT be unlocked the same way!

HOWEVER it is possible to unlock most phones with a certain key, which has to be provided by the network it is locked to (here True), yet it is very likely that nobody at True knows how to do it because SIM lock has NOT been used in Thailand for several years.

If the phone in question is a Nokia of DCT-3 or DCT-4 generation, there exist free online "calculators" to unlock such phone, however some more information is required (IMEI number, network codes) and it is tricky.

What you can always do is bring the phone to Mahboonkrong (MBK) fourth floor and get it unlcoked there. Cost you 100 or 150 Baht depending on what phone and done

With best regards.....

THanh

Thanks alot for your reply Tanh.

It is the Nokia 1110i. Exactly what happened was this. I could use two different True Move sims cards with no problems. When installing either an AIS one to call sims card, or a DTAC happy sims card, it promped me to enter a security code. The user, only me, never at any time set it up for a security code promp, and not that long ago it worked just fine with an AIS one to call sims card. True told me that they had locked it because I had requested it to be locked, which is an absolute bare faced lie. I have already paid the 150 baht to have the lock broken (the Thai translation is shoot the lock). I am mostly interested in how I can avoid having something like this happen again, as I like to go for cheaper promotions and change the sims card and service provider pretty often, and I don´t want to have pay 150 baht to shoot the lock every time I do that.

Thanks again.

higgy

[Thanh-BKK]

Hi

So you have a DCT-4 series 2 phone. No problem to get the lock removed in MBK - if it is actually required It looks like True is simply bullshitting you, or maybe you misunderstood them... because this is DEFINITELY N_O_T A PROVIDER LOCK.

The phone asks for a "security code" which means it is USER LOCKED, likely by yourself or a friend/prankster

Now what you can do is the following: Insert your AIS or D-TAC SIM card, and when the phone asks for the "security code", enter "12345". That is the DEFAULT security code for all Nokia phones. If whoever activated the lock hasn't changed that code, the phone will now accept your SIM. IF SO, use the phone's menu, go to "Settings", there "Security settings", there "Phone Security" or "SIM Lock". DEACTIVATE it, it will again ask the code to confirm. Done

If your phone was indeed locked by True, it would display something like "SIM card rejected" or "invalid SIM" instead of asking for a security code.

Oh, and if you keep the security activated, you will need to enter the code each time you insert a NEW SIM. But only the first time that SIM is used. Any subsequent time the phone will NOT ask the code again, i don't know how many SIM cards it can "memorize" but i had up to 8 SIM's "registered" in one Nokia with activated security. In fact when i sold it i forgot that i had locked it, and the buyer thought i sold him a stolen phone because it didn't take his SIM And of course i did NOT use the default code but my own

Best regards......

your Thanh

In case of "12345" does NOT work, i am afraid you will need to bring it to MBK to have the lock removed. It can be done with software such as "Logo Manager" but you would need a data cable etc - too much hassle, let someone in MBK do it for 100 Baht.

[higgy88]

The phone asks for a "security code" which means it is USER LOCKED, likely by yourself or a friend/prankster

Thanks alot for all your help. The prankster was most likely my son playing around with the phone.

higgy

[NanLaew]

The phone asks for a "security code" which means it is USER LOCKED, likely by yourself or a friend/prankster

Thanks alot for all your help. The prankster was most likely my son playing around with the phone.

higgy

I guess all that remains is to go back to "the phone store I always go to" and get the owner to call True and apologise.