Transferring SIM to another phone 'magically' turns on Internet access

[connda]

I've had the same SIM card for a few years that I've transferred between three different phones over time.  My service provides is one of those with a four-letter acronym.  The account associated with the SIM has never had Internet service turned on.  I seldom use the phone other than to carry it around when out of the house for emergencies or so that the teerak can contact me.  A large monthly bill for service is 100 THB.  

 

I changed phones a couple of months ago, and had to take the phone to the service provider because for some reason my voice mail suddenly decided to become Thai.  Had the service rep change it to English.  About three weeks later I notice that internet service (that I don't use) is functioning and talking some application on my phone that I never installed on the phone.  I checked the current balance for the SIM's account and I had almost 400 THB in charges without every having made a phone call or opened an internet application.  

I never requested Internet Service nor did I turn it on.  My wife had a lengthy talk with a customer service rep without getting anywhere.  
So how does that happen?  How does Internet Service that has never been turned on before in the years I had the SIM and the account associated with the SIM simple turn itself on???  

Edited May 5, 2017 by connda

[Forkinhades]

Can you turn data off ?

Sent from my SM-G935F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[connda]

25 minutes ago, Forkinhades said:

Can you turn data off ?

Sent from my SM-G935F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

In the phone setting there is Wi-Fi which routes though my home router. That's a flat rate service that has nothing to do with data routing though my phone provider.  In fact, my Wi-Fi ISP is a different company from my phone services provider.  I turn my Wi-Fi applet off when I leave the house.  Then there is 'Mobile Data' which will route data through your phone provider - IF - you've asked your phone provider to turn on mobile data internet access.  I have *never* asked to have my phone provider to turn on mobile data services and I've never used mobile data services with any of my other phones in the past.

Plus, I've never turned on the phone's 'Mobile Data' interface applet since owning it, but I noticed it as being 'On' after noticing the 400 THB in phone service charges.  The only other person to use the phone was the customer service rep who changed my voice mail from Thai to English.  Also after having the rep change the voice mail, an application specific to the data services of this phone company also 'magically' showed up in my applications/programs.  I never installed the program.  Like my computers, I keep the number of programs I load onto my phone at a bare minimum, and I know exactly what I have and have not installed.  This particular 'happy little program' can't seem to be uninstalled.  

So the question still is: How does a service like mobile data services just 'turn itself on' when you have never requested the service from your phone provider?

Edited May 5, 2017 by connda

[RichCor]

A new phone, or even one that has been factory reset, will come with DATA Internet enabled on the device.  Most SIM accounts will also have DATA enabled, without needing to sign up for or purchase an add on Data Internet package (but using it this way will be costly).

 

Lots of ThaiVisa users with new phones have posted in the forums about having their SIM top up completely drained before someone told them to check and turn on the 'phones' DATA.

 

It's likely the service rep enabled the DATA to download the service app to correct your language issue (rather than do it using the USSD codes).

 

AIS is nice in that you can disable DATA on the account. So even if the phone magically turns its DATA option back on the AIS SIM Account still blocks it. Simply sending a USSD code enables or disables DATA on the SIM account level.  I don't think your four-letter carrier has this option.

 

  

[chrisinth]

RichCor pretty much sums it up in the previous post. The majority of new mobiles come with Mobile data turned on by default. Mobile data will drain your money even if you don't specifically have any 'internet apps' open through call home/location apps that are running in the background. So it may have been on all the time hiding behind your wi-fi connections.

 

Only possibly....................

[mtls2005]

Yes, it sounds like the new phone had mobile data enabled so you ended up paying 1 baht/min and quickly drained your account.

 

Assuming DTAC and Android...the OP's posts are unnecessarily cryptic.

 

 

Turn data off or on within the DTAC network:

 

Enable dtac internet
Direct Number (USSD) *104*71*9# 

IVR*1004  Press 9 Press 7

 

Disable dtac internet
Direct Number (USSD) *104*72*9# 

IVR*1004  Press 9 Press 7

 

 

Turn mobile data off on the phone:

 

Settings, Data usage, toggle Cellular data to OFF. (Stock Google Android 7.1.1; your menus may be different)

[johng]

 
Turn data off or on within the DTAC network:
 
Enable dtac internet
Direct Number (USSD) *104*71*9# 
IVR*1004  Press 9 Press 7
 
Disable dtac internet
Direct Number (USSD) *104*72*9# 
IVR*1004  Press 9 Press 7

And just for stupid people like me the above codes are 2 separate ways of achieving data on or off
*104*72*9# dial out they send confirmation SMS

IVR*1004  Press 9 Press 7
How that works I don't know

But. *104*72*9#IVR*1004  Press 9 Press 7 will have silly people like me scratching their head's for a while ! !

[mtls2005]

IVR (Interactive Voice Response) is a like a phone call, so enter *1004 on the phone dial pad then press call, then listen. Pressing "9" (without the quotes) gets you into the English menu system, "7" gets you in to the internet sub=system, from there you can disable or enable internet services.

 

*104*  commands are USSD commands, so these you open the phone dialer, enter the string then press send/call. These are one-way commands you send to the network to request actions.