HELP. Is there any chance to save my punting phone??

[Beamer]

Tragedy

Went to get a number off my punting phone and discovered it in the garage at the bottom of a bucket of "car wash". Ugh!
Had decided not to wash the car but kept the ready mixed wash for next time. It must have fallen in without me realising it.
I had probably north of 150 numbers and details on the phone.
Unfortunately, although I saved it earlier on my P.C. a later update failed and wiped off the last version.
Can't believe it. I was about to switch to a two SIM phone but had put it off simply because of the unique circumstances we are experiencing.
I guess it's a stupid list of errors, not least that I didn't immediately put the phone away in my hiding place. I am normally so careful.... UGH !

Has anyone got any suggestions on recovering the SIM ?

[RAJEC]

The sim is likely fine, but your handset will be fried. Try putting the SIM card into a new phone.

I don’t know if you can save numbers to SIM cards any more, but if you can’t then I’m terribly sorry, but you may have lost your contacts

[Decadent Hobby]

Op, try sticking your phone in a bowl of uncooked rice for a day or two. The rice is meant to absorb the water. I’ve dropped my phone in a bucket of water a couple of times and the rice trick has worked.
Although, it does sound as if your phone has been in the water a lot longer than my one was. Still, give it a go, it might work. Good luck, let us know how you get on.

[spiralnotebook]

Its unfortunate, as a rule of thumb anything electrical immersed in water has a fair chance of being ok if just left to dry out for a while.
 
I read about a guitarist who had fallen out with his roadie who then poured a couple of pints of beer into his Marshall valve amp. Allowed to dry out it was fine bar odd aromas for a while.

Have you looked at the admittedly not as tech JCB tough phones?

[Billy no mates]

Op, try sticking your phone in a bowl of uncooked rice for a day or two. The rice is meant to absorb the water. I’ve dropped my phone in a bucket of water a couple of times and the rice trick has worked.
Although, it does sound as if your phone has been in the water a lot longer than my one was. Still, give it a go, it might work. Good luck, let us know how you get on.

This has also worked for me, twice (once for me, once for daughter) completely submerge the phone in rice, so the phone is not visible and leave for a day or two.

Good luck

[Corus Boy]

Op, try sticking your phone in a bowl of uncooked rice for a day or two. The rice is meant to absorb the water. I’ve dropped my phone in a bucket of water a couple of times and the rice trick has worked.
Although, it does sound as if your phone has been in the water a lot longer than my one was. Still, give it a go, it might work. Good luck, let us know how you get on.

+1

But I would give it a good wash in clean water first.

[vindici]

Tragedy

Went to get a number off my punting phone and discovered it in the garage at the bottom of a bucket of "car wash". Ugh!
Had decided not to wash the car but kept the ready mixed wash for next time. It must have fallen in without me realising it.
I had probably north of 150 numbers and details on the phone.
Unfortunately, although I saved it earlier on my P.C. a later update failed and wiped off the last version.
Can't believe it. I was about to switch to a two SIM phone but had put it off simply because of the unique circumstances we are experiencing.
I guess it's a stupid list of errors, not least that I didn't immediately put the phone away in my hiding place. I am normally so careful.... UGH !

Has anyone got any suggestions on recovering the SIM ?

Was it a dumbphone or a smartphone? After using the rice trick suggested above, if the screen doesn't work, you might still be able to connect it to a PC via a cable and still get things back. This has worked for me in the past, especially with dumbphones, they seem to be quite resilient.

[vindici]

+1

But I would give it a good wash in clean water first.

Remove the battery if you're going to do that.

[NelsonH]

If it's an iphone check out Youtube channel "ipadrehab".

[latecomer]

The sim is likely fine, but your handset will be fried. Try putting the SIM card into a new phone.

I don’t know if you can save numbers to SIM cards any more, but if you can’t then I’m terribly sorry, but you may have lost your contacts

Yes you can, certainly on my cheap "punting" phone.  I think there's fair chance of a new phone being able to read the SIM.  OP, good luck and please let us know how you get on.

[Beamer]

Thanks so much for all your suggestions.  Will let you know if any work tonight. 

[Clattypats]

Yes you can, certainly on my cheap "punting" phone.  I think there's fair chance of a new phone being able to read the SIM.  OP, good luck and please let us know how you get on.

It may depend on the default setting of the phone... Think my  cheap "burner" phone automatically saves numbers to SIM but I've changed it to phone, incase I have to change the SIM at any point...

[Corus Boy]

It may depend on the default setting of the phone... Think my  cheap "burner" phone automatically saves numbers to SIM but I've changed it to phone, incase I have to change the SIM at any point...

I have a menu item that seems to allow me to Copy contact to SIM or Phone, either way.

[Clattypats]

I have a menu item that seems to allow me to Copy contact to SIM or Phone, either way.

Yeah, that's what I was getting at, if I don't change it myself, then I believe it initially saves numbers to SIM, but I've changed it so they are saved to phone instead... Can change it from one to the other anytime I want, if need be...

[AnthG]

Thanks so much for all your suggestions.  Will let you know if any work tonight. 

Do not do it tonight. First things first, remove the battery and leave it a few days to hopefully see it can completely dry out. Water doesn't destroy electrical components. Water and an electrical current destroys electrical components. So trying to use it with water inside will definitely ruin it.

After a few days, and you are certain it's dried out. Try putting in the battery, to see if it powers on. If it doesn't try plugging it into your PC USB port to slow trickle charge (you'd have to leave it a while. Do not plug it into the mains outlet to charge.

If you dropped it into dirty water, you may need to open the phone up and clean the components. There are guides on Youtube how to do it no matter what phone you have.

However, if its a smart phone, you usually have to put your Android username and password and often contacts are saved into your Google account.

Or if it's a dumb phone , they usually get saved to the sim card itself.

[Beamer]

Do not do it tonight. First things first, remove the battery and leave it a few days to hopefully see it can completely dry out. Water doesn't destroy electrical components. Water and an electrical current destroys electrical components. So trying to use it with water inside will definitely ruin it.

After a few days, and you are certain it's dried out. Try putting in the battery, to see if it powers on. If it doesn't try plugging it into your PC USB port to slow trickle charge (you'd have to leave it a while. Do not plug it into the mains outlet to charge.

If you dropped it into dirty water, you may need to open the phone up and clean the components. There are guides on Youtube how to do it no matter what phone you have.

However, if its a smart phone, you usually have to put your Android username and password and often contacts are saved into your Google account.

Or if it's a dumb phone , they usually get saved to the sim card itself.

Thanks 👍👍

[Zeusthedoc]

definitely still worth trying the rice trick, but rusting can kick in before the rice is able to work its magic!

good luck!

[wannabe]

As AnthG said, if it's an Android phone and you have set it up with a Google account (I have a Google account in a fake name for such purposes) then your contacts should be saved to External Link/Members Only and you can view them in a web browser and transfer them to other Android devices.

If it's an iPhone then they should be saved to the Apple account you set the phone up with, and can be transferred to a new iPhone if you set it up with the same Apple account.

If it's a dumbphone then as above, the SIM may still work in another phone.

[jeanphillipe]

What happened Beamer ? Did the rice trick work?

[francescototti]

his phone is now in the bottom of the biryani pot 

[scutty brown]

Once had a guy ask me to get a phone working after it got wet. He wanted data off it.
He got told to fuck off when I found out how it got wet.........he ran a stables and had dropped it into a bucket of horse piss

[Beamer]

What happened Beamer ? Did the rice trick work?

I am waiting....... amongst the great advice was to let it completely dry out.

So later tomorrow (today) is DDay.
Will let you know. Cheers

[belfastpunter]

The SIM is unlikely to have been damaged by water.
Many phones are water resistant now to some degree, so long as you dry out the charger port.
If the phone is android and you linked it to a google account the contacts list can be accessed if you sign in to google from a pc. Be sure  to use incognito browsing.
If it's android just pop it in a new phone, it will automatically sync your old contact once you link it to the punting google account.
If he sim is damaged o2, 3, etc can issue a new on with same number. Or get a PAC code to transfer number to new phone.

i done this in my phone and the only thing i lost was photos.

[Beamer]

Thanks for all the advice on how to get my punting phone/SIM card back.
I waited until everything was absolutely dry, cursing that I hadn't transferred the numbers to my "2 SIM" phone as was my original plan.
Unfortunately, I could get nothing from the sim card. As it was a phone used for punting numbers only and no normal extras like web access etc it was not "registered" in the conventional method so any transfer from another source was not available. 
I know a small independent mobile shop and he has had a go for me as well.
It was interesting to hear from him that ..... "I was using a really cheap phone, storing nothing but numbers to make sure it was anonymous" ........ he made me feel like a criminal mastermind. 
Anyway, to console myself,  I guess out of 20+ years worth of stored numbers I probably  used 40 or so tops with I am sure a lot that were "no longer obtainable" on the SIM.
It's now a balls aching job to start again, especially when I had the so called "private" numbers from a fair number of regular SP/FBSM girls. But hey ho, lesson has been learned, big time. 
The biggest problem is that a few regulars no longer advertise, especially those that I have been seeing for a while, some up to 10 + years. 
Will now review my handling of a punting phone.......
Again, thanks for all suggestions.

[daviemac]

Thanks for the update, sorry it didn't work out.

[Zeusthedoc]

Thanks for all the advice on how to get my punting phone/SIM card back.
I waited until everything was absolutely dry, cursing that I hadn't transferred the numbers to my "2 SIM" phone as was my original plan.
Unfortunately, I could get nothing from the sim card. As it was a phone used for punting numbers only and no normal extras like web access etc it was not "registered" in the conventional method so any transfer from another source was not available. 
I know a small independent mobile shop and he has had a go for me as well.
It was interesting to hear from him that ..... "I was using a really cheap phone, storing nothing but numbers to make sure it was anonymous" ........ he made me feel like a criminal mastermind. 
Anyway, to console myself,  I guess out of 20+ years worth of stored numbers I probably  used 40 or so tops with I am sure a lot that were "no longer obtainable" on the SIM.
It's now a balls aching job to start again, especially when I had the so called "private" numbers from a fair number of regular SP/FBSM girls. But hey ho, lesson has been learned, big time. 
The biggest problem is that a few regulars no longer advertise, especially those that I have been seeing for a while, some up to 10 + years. 
Will now review my handling of a punting phone.......
Again, thanks for all suggestions.

gutted!

[MissWolf]

Random question but is it possible to keep the number and transfer it to your new sim or phone

If some of these girls are regulars and they still have your number do they ever contact you with offers or availability?

[zxc]

Have you tried to use forensic software for the SIM? The police use it. So can you.

External Link/Members Only to use forensic software for the SIM? The police use it, so you can use it too.

[GingerNuts]

Have you tried to use forensic software for the SIM? The police use it. So can you.

External Link/Members Only to use forensic software for the SIM? The police use it, so you can use it too.

Perhaps you could share which tool(s) are suitable for recovering data in the Beamer's circumstances.

[LLPunting]

Thanks for all the advice on how to get my punting phone/SIM card back.
I waited until everything was absolutely dry, cursing that I hadn't transferred the numbers to my "2 SIM" phone as was my original plan.
Unfortunately, I could get nothing from the sim card. As it was a phone used for punting numbers only and no normal extras like web access etc it was not "registered" in the conventional method so any transfer from another source was not available. 
I know a small independent mobile shop and he has had a go for me as well.
It was interesting to hear from him that ..... "I was using a really cheap phone, storing nothing but numbers to make sure it was anonymous" ........ he made me feel like a criminal mastermind. 
Anyway, to console myself,  I guess out of 20+ years worth of stored numbers I probably  used 40 or so tops with I am sure a lot that were "no longer obtainable" on the SIM.
It's now a balls aching job to start again, especially when I had the so called "private" numbers from a fair number of regular SP/FBSM girls. But hey ho, lesson has been learned, big time. 
The biggest problem is that a few regulars no longer advertise, especially those that I have been seeing for a while, some up to 10 + years. 
Will now review my handling of a punting phone.......
Again, thanks for all suggestions.

Shame about the dead phone.

Any chance you can manage your account online via network provider?  Call history?  Itemised bills archived online?

[Corus Boy]

Thanks for all the advice on how to get my punting phone/SIM card back.
I waited until everything was absolutely dry, cursing that I hadn't transferred the numbers to my "2 SIM" phone as was my original plan.
Unfortunately, I could get nothing from the sim card. As it was a phone used for punting numbers only and no normal extras like web access etc it was not "registered" in the conventional method so any transfer from another source was not available. 
I know a small independent mobile shop and he has had a go for me as well.
It was interesting to hear from him that ..... "I was using a really cheap phone, storing nothing but numbers to make sure it was anonymous" ........ he made me feel like a criminal mastermind. 
Anyway, to console myself,  I guess out of 20+ years worth of stored numbers I probably  used 40 or so tops with I am sure a lot that were "no longer obtainable" on the SIM.
It's now a balls aching job to start again, especially when I had the so called "private" numbers from a fair number of regular SP/FBSM girls. But hey ho, lesson has been learned, big time. 
The biggest problem is that a few regulars no longer advertise, especially those that I have been seeing for a while, some up to 10 + years. 
Will now review my handling of a punting phone.......
Again, thanks for all suggestions.

Sorry that you couldn't save your data.

I suspect you techie guy now has your cards marked as a Drug Dealer!

[latecomer]

Sorry to hear about the outcome, Beamer, as I was fairly confident the SIM card would reveal its secrets.  Thanks for sharing with us though, the anticipation was killing us!

[Steve2]

Looks like all your numbers were only in the phone, not the SIM card unfortunately   

[zxc]

Perhaps you could share which tool(s) are suitable for recovering data in the Beamer's circumstances.

Do you know Google? Once you know the solution, then you can Google for more "forensic software" alone, can't you?

Anyway, I can explain to you how to make a query.

 

• Open a new tab for Google
• Type the keywords in the box
• Use keywords like "forensic software", "free forensic software", "forensic software for SIM card recovery", "How to recover a SIM card", "how to recover data for a damaged mobile phone", "mobile phone forensics to extract contacts" and other combinations you can think (or not)
• Hit enter
• Read the articles

This is an example result:

External Link/Members Only

If you don't find what you want, try another result like

External Link/Members Only
External Link/Members Only

[GingerNuts]

Stuff about Google.

Apologies for making the mistake of thinking you knew what you were talking about and could direct Beamer to something specifically to help.

[zxc]

Also, this is a Forum where Forensic Data experts can help you.

External Link/Members Only

[zxc]

Apologies for making the mistake of thinking you knew what you were talking about and could direct Beamer to something specifically to help.

Google will tell you what you need only if you know what to look for. I put you on the way to find a solution, look for "Forensic Data Software"".

Then you will have to finish your research on your own.

[sonyvaio]

Thanks for all the advice on how to get my punting phone/SIM card back.
I waited until everything was absolutely dry, cursing that I hadn't transferred the numbers to my "2 SIM" phone as was my original plan.
Unfortunately, I could get nothing from the sim card. As it was a phone used for punting numbers only and no normal extras like web access etc it was not "registered" in the conventional method so any transfer from another source was not available. 
I know a small independent mobile shop and he has had a go for me as well.
It was interesting to hear from him that ..... "I was using a really cheap phone, storing nothing but numbers to make sure it was anonymous" ........ he made me feel like a criminal mastermind. 
Anyway, to console myself,  I guess out of 20+ years worth of stored numbers I probably  used 40 or so tops with I am sure a lot that were "no longer obtainable" on the SIM.
It's now a balls aching job to start again, especially when I had the so called "private" numbers from a fair number of regular SP/FBSM girls. But hey ho, lesson has been learned, big time. 
The biggest problem is that a few regulars no longer advertise, especially those that I have been seeing for a while, some up to 10 + years. 
Will now review my handling of a punting phone.......
Again, thanks for all suggestions.

I assume it was probably a PAYG SIM, did you ever register it with the provider? If so then you could in theory make a request under the DPA 2018 for a record of the call logs / top ups etc

[GingerNuts]

Google will tell you what you need only if you know what to look for. I put you on the way to find a solution, look for "Forensic Data Software"".

Then you will have to finish your research on your own.

Again, apologies for thinking you had some knowledge of this subject.

[LLPunting]

Do you know Google? Once you know the solution, then you can Google for more "forensic software" alone, can't you?

Anyway, I can explain to you how to make a query.

 

• Open a new tab for Google
• Type the keywords in the box
• Use keywords like "forensic software", "free forensic software", "forensic software for SIM card recovery", "How to recover a SIM card", "how to recover data for a damaged mobile phone", "mobile phone forensics to extract contacts" and other combinations you can think (or not)
• Hit enter
• Read the articles

This is an example result:

External Link/Members Only

If you don't find what you want, try another result like

External Link/Members Only
External Link/Members Only

How about the Dark Web options?
Do enlighten us on how to find phone data retrieval software and hardware, preferably from the chip or i/c rather than via the i/o port.

[RandomGuy99]

Usually you can set your phone to store numbers to the internal storage of your phone or the SIM.  I always go for the SIM so I transfer it to another phone if I have a phone fail.

[PeachyAssFan]

I suspect you techie guy now has your cards marked as a Drug Dealer!

Or he’s ringing all your contacts and having the time of his life 

[rathbone]

Any chance you can manage your account online via network provider?  Call history?  Itemised bills archived online?

That's what I was going to suggest - there's a good chance that if you set up a log-in and password with EE/ O2/ Three/ Vodafone/ whoever, that you'll be able to see some of your call history. 

[Beamer]

Or he’s ringing all your contacts and having the time of his life 

Grrrrrr! 
don't remind me !!

Hope he hasn't cracked my code as to what services are available!
I also had a couple of legit SP's listed if I needed/fancied a proper massage.

[Grenadier36]

You could try this software: External Link/Members Only

NB it requires a PC-enabled connection to a working phone and if the sim's got water damage it may not be recoverable anyway. Depends what those contacts are worth to you I guess 

[Marquis]

Shame about the dead phone.

Any chance you can manage your account online via network provider?  Call history?  Itemised bills archived online?

I've done this in the past with my ancient punting BlackBerry on Vodafone PAYG. Not in Beamer's circumstances but when I lost a couple of numbers.

The problem if you have a lot of numbers to restore is that there won't be any names associated with them.

[workinallweek]

 i save to a memory card on the phone and transfer to a password protected memory stick ...

[AnthG]

i save to a memory card on the phone and transfer to a password protected memory stick ...

Why not just go old fashioned and write them to a bit of paper?

For my important numbers I have a standard txt document with them all listed as a typed out list. And I then keep them in a password protected Rar file called "sourcecodes".

Its only 2kb big, nobody will care about it if they seen it anywhere. And even if they did, unless they can guess my RAR password that I know off heart nobody will ever see whats inside of it anyway.

I then emailed it to myself on two email accounts I have so I can access it on the go if I need it, or on my PC via just downloading it from my email account.

My numbers are therefore pretty much 100% disaster proof safe

[Grenadier36]

Why not just go old fashioned and write them to a bit of paper?

For my important numbers I have a standard txt document with them all listed as a typed out list. And I then keep them in a password protected Rar file called "sourcecodes".

Its only 2kb big, nobody will care about it if they seen it anywhere. And even if they did, unless they can guess my RAR password that I know off heart nobody will ever see whats inside of it anyway.

I then emailed it to myself on two email accounts I have so I can access it on the go if I need it, or on my PC via just downloading it from my email account.

My numbers are therefore pretty much 100% disaster proof safe

Ummm, beyond your first sentence none of those things are bits of paper? 

[AnthG]

Ummm, beyond your first sentence none of those things are bits of paper? 

Notepad, that creates txt files is considered a digital scrap of paper. I appreciate it could be seen as a leap. But this is what I do.

Its giving two options over what to do. A bit of physical paper, or a digital version of it that is supported by everything and only 2kb big.