Punting phone q's

[Robbybobby15]

Hi I need to get one, best and cheapest place ? Best network? Also where do u hide it ?

[SirFrank]

Keep it simple for punting. I use an old phone with a payg sim which I top of with cash. Supermarket sims are widely available and easy to top up with cash. Network depends on coverage but I've never had a problem. Keep it in work or something. If you're buying a phone you can probably get a decent one for £20-40. Be careful what you link to it though - eg whatsapp etc. I phone and text only with mine

[Robbybobby15]

Well I'd only get a dead cheap one, is there any networks you can top up a fiver on as ill hardly use it?

[OldAdmin]

Good comparison of PAYG networks:
External Link/Members Only

Cheapest is Three network:
3p / min, 2p / text, 1p / MB.

SIM usually costs £1 from newsagents
Minimum top-up is £10

[wheeliebinwanking]

I recommend an old blackberry (passworded). Buy a second hand phone on gumtree. I wouldn't budget more than £25

As for SIMS, I prefer to go to a corner shop and pickup a SIM with credit already loaded. Once it expires, I ditch the sim and get a new number. Unless you're precious about keeping a number than I suggest you follow this 'burner' (reference to The Wire) approach.


If you start using a fancy punting phone and use data, etc you're credit line will dissappear quickly. I use a Lyca Mobile or Lebara SIM. I only tend to punt every few months anyway. So the phone actually stays switched off the majority of the time.

[threechilliman]

Keep it simple for punting...... Keep it in work....... I phone and text only with mine....

Exactly how I do it, being careful to wipe any history post-punt.

tcm

[Sir Lance-a-lot]

You'll probably be doing a lot of texting, so a decent alphabetical keyboard would be good - either a physical keyboard or a touchscreen one.  But finding a cheap phone with a keyboard will be difficult, unless you can get one secondhand, such as the BlackBerry mentioned earlier.

[cueball]

Mine is a cheap o2 pay as you go, anon to me. phone and sim were only a tenner, there's no internet, no whatsapp in fact it is just call and text, just what I need.

Hidden very well and only switched on when I'm either  sniffing or punting

[scorpion61]

Using an old phone with an EE sim. Pay £1 per week for plenty of texts and minutes.

[cueball]

Using an old phone with an EE sim.

EE? ooo, bait and switch

[bod666]

£8 Samsung thing from tesco plus tesco sim. Piece of piss. Phone is tiny and all it does is make calls and send texts. Battery lasts forever too.

My excuse is its my emergency phone for occasions where my smart phone runs out of battery.

[Daveboygreen50]

You can buy a basic phone at Tesco for £7 and a sim for £1. Buy all these items and top up with cash only.

Don't store numbers in it, delete any numbers, texts and call logs once the punt has been completed. This way if anyone ever discovers your punting phone there will be no incriminating evidence on it. Store the phone at work.

Alternatively you could just buy a SIM card and put it in your phone, SIM card is very easy to hide.

Carry out a search " punting phones " for plenty of useful advice.

[Jimmyredcab]

£8 Samsung thing from tesco plus tesco sim. Piece of piss. Phone is tiny and all it does is make calls and send texts. Battery lasts forever too.

My excuse is its my emergency phone for occasions where my smart phone runs out of battery.

I don't have a punting phone and never will ------- but I am curious -----------

When you top up these PAYG sim cards does the credit have to be used within a certain time or does it last "forever".

My phone is on a very old Virgin tariff, if I put £10 on it the credit lasts until I use it up.   

[threechilliman]

£8 Samsung thing from tesco plus tesco sim. Piece of piss. Phone is tiny and all it does is make calls and send texts. Battery lasts forever too.

My excuse is its my emergency phone for occasions where my smart phone runs out of battery.

After that piece in the Daily Mail, I'm not sure I'd admit to having a second phone.

tcm

[smiths]

You can buy a basic phone at Tesco for £7 and a sim for £1. Buy all these items and top up with cash only.

Don't store numbers in it, delete any numbers, texts and call logs once the punt has been completed. This way if anyone ever discovers your punting phone there will be no incriminating evidence on it. Store the phone at work.

Alternatively you could just buy a SIM card and put it in your phone, SIM card is very easy to hide.

Carry out a search " punting phones " for plenty of useful advice.

Indeed good advice, a second phone isn't essential, just another tiny sim is all you need. I personally wouldn't recommend a smart phone but if a punter gets one ensure it cant track you so potentially catch you out with a partner.

[cueball]

After that piece in the Daily Mail, I'm not sure I'd admit to having a second phone.

tcm

Me neither, my second phone is as secret as my second hobby.

[Ali Katt]

I top up £2 on orange run the credit down and switch to a new sim.

[Jimmyredcab]

I top up £2 on orange run the credit down and switch to a new sim.

Why 

[RedKettle]

£8 Samsung thing from tesco plus tesco sim. Piece of piss. Phone is tiny and all it does is make calls and send texts. Battery lasts forever too.

My excuse is its my emergency phone for occasions where my smart phone runs out of battery.

I agree with this - only variation is buy 2 of the phones and give one to the family as a general back up for them and do not mention your one.  If you accidentally let them see your punting phone hopefully they will think it is the family spare.

If somehow they realise it is a second phone then fall back on the excuse that it is an emergency phone.

[mcardle464]

I think I am with the majority here.  Following one of the discussions last year I bought a £10 cash virgin PAYG which came with £10 credit (so total cost £10).  It only phones and texts but that's all you need. The tenner lasted ages and now to top up I  pay cash in newsagents for a voucher. I am single so I don't bother about removing traces or names of wgs.  If anyone asked me, I'd just say it was a emergency backup phone...I'm always forgetting my main one, so that makes sense. Sits switched off in the bottom of a drawer till I need it.  If I had to throw it away, it's not a prob.

BTW@ Jimmy - I don't think the credit is allowed to "run out".  It just sits there forever if you don't us e it.

[OldAdmin]

BTW@ Jimmy - I don't think the credit is allowed to "run out".  It just sits there forever if you don't us e it.

Most mobile operators will disable a number if it goes unused - e.g. not making calls.
Has happened to me over the years.

[The_Don]

Good comparison of PAYG networks:
External Link/Members Only

Cheapest is Three network:
3p / min, 2p / text, 1p / MB.

SIM usually costs £1 from newsagents
Minimum top-up is £10

And this is what I use, cheap easy and not problem to put another sim in and top up. If a number change is needed or I use a specific SIM for calling regulars

[claretandblue]

i use a small old fashioned samsung phone, it is with vodafone and i top up using a top up voucher which i pay for in cash in the shop

i am not interested in befriending wg's so am not looking to have long back and forth text conversations via whatsapp and i have zero interest in following wg's on twitter, as such a basic phone like mine is perfect

i believe the phone costs £20 and comes with £10 credit on it, if you are an attached punter who just wants to call and send brief texts its perfect

[Turtle Z]

Hi I need to get one, best and cheapest place ? Best network? Also where do u hide it ?

Giffgaff!

£7.50 a month should do anyone for a punting phone!

External Link/Members Only

[wheeliebinwanking]

All good advice. Take away, by a basic phone! None of this smart phone shite

[Gordon Bennett]

I can't be bothered, just use my own phone. I know it'll bite me on the arse one day but I I don't really care. That said, I don't do any of that social media crap and I hardly use my phone aside from a rare call or text. It seems to me that having a separate secret phone would be far more suspicious in my situation.

[smiths]

I can't be bothered, just use my own phone. I know it'll bite me on the arse one day but I I don't really care. That said, I don't do any of that social media crap and I hardly use my phone aside from a rare call or text. It seems to me that having a separate secret phone would be far more suspicious in my situation.

But you don't need a separate phone, just another tiny sim.

[dizietsmae]

I use an app that gives you disposable numbers, always use a different number for each punt and only have the app installed when needed.  Also the app is password protected and I delete my app install history whenever I uninstall it 

[Ali Katt]

Why 

No risk of getting a spam text message from a prossie 4 months later, no risk of accidentally getting called. On mostphone they keep a call log by default my guess is most prossies don't delete them straight away and lets not forget the number collectors on saafe and prossienet.

[The_Don]

No risk of getting a spam text message from a prossie 4 months later, no risk of accidentally getting called. On mostphone they keep a call log by default my guess is most prossies don't delete them straight away and lets not forget the number collectors on saafe and prossienet.

This is why I have  had many different sim cards.

[CardiffCentral]

Keep an eye on External Link/Members Only

There are always cheap smart phones and sim deals for under £50.  You can get an Android handset or decent Windows Mobile handset for under £15.  Both have all the messaging apps you'd need and you can receive and save pics if need be as well as bookmark your favorite girls, access secret email addresses and make all sorts of perverted lists in your note taking app.  Get the most out of your punting phone.

Don't forget, switch it off when it's not in use and use a passcode.  Also set it up so that if it goes AWOL you can reset the handset remotely.  I'd also recommend creating a couple of personas and not using any real details of yours.  Plausible denial people!

[Robbybobby15]

Just found this

External Link/Members Only

£13 with £10 credit already on, bargain