Punting phone options. Basic.

[onedivergent]

Just throwing out there cheap burner punter fone.
Was recommended (the idea, not this phone) to get a phone to use for this hobby! Never occurred to me to get one or have a sim card till advised so thanks.

Personally have an extra smartphone for this hobby(what's app, online, services, aw mobile, use for maps) but after reading so much of people who have issues linking to personal accounts, map history links to Google home or I and apple service sync as well as the social media - then a basic phone and sim will do the job.

Sim Free Alcatel fone -
At £7.49 in ar gos.

This phone it's self sells itself as basik and it won't link to email or social media.
Just a 2G phone, standard sim card size.


I sure there are plenty of cheap fones out there and I read 'cheap sim deal threads' on here so posted  this one up in similar vein.

It's just to highlight use of a extra phone.
And for those who would use something basic without any Internet and account sync. Etc (important for privacy)

Cheers.

[EnglishRebecca121]

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This is my escorting phone, its fab as no internet , battery last 2 weeks and it cant recieve dick pics!

[IrishBob]

I use an Alcatel basic phone. Bought mine in cash from a tesco. Tesco mobile can be topped up anywhere and when you top up £10 you get an extra £10 credit.

I delete everything on it. Messages, call logs and contacts. It's just a blank phone

[onedivergent]

I was reluctant to put up links to argos and links to phone as search engines can throw up these things (would list UK punting forum)

I get though your link and playa will do the job. Good link fwiw.

[Drekszter]

I have the new N0kia 105. Can be found for less than £20 on most online retailers and even in the high street.

It's a bit more expensive than the ones that cost a tenner but sound quality and the UI ease of use is just perfect for me.

[dubs]

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This is my escorting phone, its fab as no internet , battery last 2 weeks and it cant recieve dick pics!

I bet it’s a pain in the arse to write texts on.

[bushman]

If you disable GPS, bluetooth, maps and don't lock into any social media or e-mails. Then there's no reason not to use a smart phone. Also don't use your home wifi log in.

[Gomez42]

Wherever you are going to punt, switch off wifi on your phone at least 20 metres away.

When your phone looks for a wifi connection, every minute or so, not only will it send its MAC address, but it will also send the names of any connections it has had in the past.

If you walk past my home, I can see your connections, search for them on the net and find your house. The system is electronically silent and only covers my home. The recieving range could easily be extended.

[magnetico]

not only will it send its MAC address, but it will also send the names of any connections it has had in the past.

If you walk past my home, I can see your connections, search for them on the net and find your house. The system is electronically silent and only covers my home. The recieving range could easily be extended.

Do you have a source for that?

[Gomez42]

I wrote the software.

Various businesses use similar systems to track footfall. Commercial systems are available.

Mine cost me less than £30 plus writing the code. I'd be amazed if criminals haven't thought of it.

[dubs]

See the "Putting it together" section below...

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[Gomez42]

It hadn't really occurred to me until reading this thread that it could be used for blackmail purposes.

I wrote it as a discreet monitor for unattended buildings, hoping to identify engine theives.

Anyone can trace a wifi name via war driving sites.

[Pepsiii]

Are you serious?

Wherever you are going to punt, switch off wifi on your phone at least 20 metres away.

When your phone looks for a wifi connection, every minute or so, not only will it send its MAC address, but it will also send the names of any connections it has had in the past.

If you walk past my home, I can see your connections, search for them on the net and find your house. The system is electronically silent and only covers my home. The recieving range could easily be extended.

[Gomez42]

Are you serious?

Deadly serious. Walk past my home made system and its better than evens that I could find your home wifi name. Put that into a war driving website and I could probably find your house. I have done this to test the concept.

Shops use anonymised versions of this to see how people walk about the store. Where they linger, where they rush, how long they spend on site. Putting something slightly different to your normal purchase in a place that you are known to spend time means they might sell it to you. Loyalty cards have nothing to do with loyalty, it's all about profiling the customer.

Tfl use it to read passenger movement on the underground. Oxford Street rubbish bins had a system, so they could track people along the shops.

My little system was written in Python, a language that kids learn, and runs on a £5 computer, with a few extra components.  If I can do that, what could a professional criminal do?

If a WG or Sergei, had a probe monitoring system....

[Drekszter]

Might want to turn on Airplane mode too which has other benefits like conserving battery if you know you're not going to do anything with it (like you've sent your last text/confirmation call and you're on your way to the punt).

I have a "dumb phone" (doesn't have NFC, GPS, Bluetooth or even 3G) that can only call and SMS and I even turn it off completely if I'm not using it.

[dubs]

Deadly serious. Walk past my home made system and its better than evens that I could find your home wifi name. Put that into a war driving website and I could probably find your house. I have done this to test the concept.

What's a "war driving website" ?

Thankfully there is no way I know of to search the web for an SSID and locate it on a map, so if you did get a list of SSIDs and find that "PLUSNET12345" was one of them, tying that to a location would be difficult.  You could drive around running something like inSSIDer but unless you happened to come within range of the wifi router you wouldn't find it.

[Gomez42]

What's a "war driving website" ?

Thankfully there is no way I know of to search the web for an SSID and locate it on a map, so if you did get a list of SSIDs and find that "PLUSNET12345" was one of them, tying that to a location would be difficult.  You could drive around running something like inSSIDer but unless you happened to come within range of the wifi router you wouldn't find it.

wigle.net for a start!

[HalleAstley]

Why would a wg care about a punters personal information?

[Gomez42]

Why would a wg care about a punters personal information?

She wouldn't, but if there was a Sergei in the background, it could easily lead to blackmail.

[Bigwilts]

What's a "war driving website" ?

Thankfully there is no way I know of to search the web for an SSID and locate it on a map, so if you did get a list of SSIDs and find that "PLUSNET12345" was one of them, tying that to a location would be difficult.  You could drive around running something like inSSIDer but unless you happened to come within range of the wifi router you wouldn't find it.

Wardriving is driving around trying to hack into people’s WiFi to get free internet - possibly waving a Pringles tube around to direct the signal


The name follows on from wardialling which gained its name from the film War Games
Wardialling is attempting to dial into servers, war walking, war biking and war driving are all the same thing, just a different method of traveling the streets looking for WiFi - and gave an idea of the age range of the hacker


A wardriving website gives access to the hacking tools, tips, and maybe maps of areas and places to find
It’s less of a thing now because of public WiFi and mobile phone capabilities, but the tools remain in the hackers toolbox

[Plan R]

If I can do that, what could a professional criminal do?

Brilliant stuff Gomez
I have a question for you if you don't mind..
My punting phone and main phone are both simple Nokia 'feature' efforts.
I never go online with either of them, it would be easier going online with a microwave
Am I safe from this exploit?

I don't own a smart phone
(not giving a fuck where the international space station is, or what a friend had for dinner)
 

[Gomez42]

Brilliant stuff Gomez
I have a question for you if you don't mind..
My punting phone and main phone are both simple Nokia 'feature' efforts.
I never go online with either of them, it would be easier going online with a microwave
Am I safe from this exploit?

I don't own a smart phone
(not giving a fuck where the international space station is, or what a friend had for dinner)
 

It's fairly easy on wifi, probably just as easy, but not as effective on Bluetooth.  Theoretically it would be possible on the cell signal, but that's probably restricted to GCHQ!  If you have no wifi or Bluetooth, I can't see there would be a problem.

I regularly watch the space station :-)

[Plan R]

Thanks Gomez - nice to know 

[G.Raff]

Can one delete the data from the phone?
In which case presumably it would be good practice to periodically "clean up" your phone?

[Gomez42]

Can one delete the data from the phone?
In which case presumably it would be good practice to periodically "clean up" your phone?

The data that can be seen is the MAC address of the phone and previous wifi connections.

The MAC address is part of the phone. Some phones and operating systems will send out a spoof MAC address. the address is a sequence of hexadecimal numbers. Part of the sequence identifies the phone or chip manufacturer.

The previous wifi connections are ones that you have previously connected to. You could delete them all, but that would mean entering your wifi pass key every time you connect.

[morrisonhotel]

Thanks guys - punted for years and a real technophobe but WTF? 

Off to get a punting phone this week!!!!

[Beanhead]

I had an old cheap samsung galaxy. Basic needs of being able to call, text and have whatsapp.

The only other thing I might use is Google maps if I need to find the location.

I use the classic 1-2-3 o2 PAYG sim External Link/Members Only

It needs £10 topup when you get it and you have to use a chargeable activity once in 6 months to keep it going and not get terminated. Had it over 9 months and still have £8 balance.

[morrisonhotel]

Right lads - some advice required please.

I have bought myself a real cheapo punting phone.  What do most of you do when out and about when the mood takes you - do you fire AW up on the smartphone and then use the cheap phone to call girl?

If there are lots of risks with smartphones at girls location do you switch the smartphone off completely when on-site?

Sorry if this is obvious - so much more complicated than trawling the daily sport classifieds section in a phonebox (how i started....!)

[jeanphillipe]

If you disable GPS, bluetooth, maps and don't lock into any social media or e-mails. Then there's no reason not to use a smart phone. Also don't use your home wifi log in.

This isn't true. The phone still logs your detailz and sends data back once online

[Malvolio]

Right lads - some advice required please.

I have bought myself a real cheapo punting phone.  What do most of you do when out and about when the mood takes you - do you fire AW up on the smartphone and then use the cheap phone to call girl?

If there are lots of risks with smartphones at girls location do you switch the smartphone off completely when on-site?

Sorry if this is obvious - so much more complicated than trawling the daily sport classifieds section in a phonebox (how i started....!)

I do not take a smartphone with me when I punt.  I've stored numbers of several WGs in my punting phone who might be available as a plan B, but I prefer to organise my punts at home before setting out.  If you have to keep your smartphone with you whilst punting best practice is to turn it off completely when you're approaching the destination.

[jeanphillipe]

This isn't true. The phone still logs your detailz and sends data back once online

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Watch that video , 

[morrisonhotel]

Thanks for the advice Malvolio.  Home research is not an option for me and I am partial to ad hoc punting out when the mood takes me so I think I will still use a smartphone to look up on AW etc and then fire up the burner to ring the WGs on.  Smartphone can then go off whilst the deed is done.