Frequently Asked Questions
Mobile
What can I do to prevent my voicemail being hacked ?
On most mobile phone networks, you can access your mobile voicemail from a landline or from another mobile by dialling into your voice mailbox, and keying in a voicemail PIN. To access your voice mailbox, you put '5' after the prefix, before the phone number. So if your number is 086 1234567, your voice mailbox number is 086 5 1234567. This is a useful facility, but can also leave your voicemail vulnerable to being listened to by other people who know your phone number and voicemail PIN number. When you set up your voicemail service for the first time on your new phone, you are usually required to set up a voicemail PIN. On some networks there is a default voicemail PIN which can be used if you don't set up your own personal PIN. On other networks there is no default PIN and you will need to set up your own voicemail PIN if you wish to access your voicemail from other handsets. If your network has a default voicemail PIN it is particularly important to choose your own voicemail PIN as soon as you start using your new phone. The default PIN is the same for every user on the network and so could easily be known and used by someone else, if you do not change it. Check your service provider's website for further information on your particular voicemail service.
Some tips for choosing a safe voicemail PIN :
- You PIN needs to be easy for you to remember, but difficult for others to guess.
- Avoid using birthday or well-known dates (ie 1916, 0911)
- Avoid using obvious number patterns ( ie 1234, 2468)
- Avoid using repeated digits (ie 112233)
- Change your PIN from time to time
- Change your PIN immediately if you think someone else may know what it is.
