Damn it! I locked my SIM card!!!!!!

[Jumbo744]

Hello,

I have a Nokia N95. I was out the house and left it at home; Someone played with the PIN code trying to turn it on and entered a wrong code3 times. It then asked for a PUK code which is supposed to be in the manual of the sim card which I don't have anymore. So I tried many numbers and now the SIM is deactivated!!! what does that mean? how can I activate it again?

Thanks!

[Parapunter]

phone the phone co. for another phone. Tell them you fcuked your phone and can you please have your phone back.

[preduk]

The PUK code isn't in the manual it's on your network/manufactures website, you would have had to try to enter the numbers about 10 times for it to be locked!

What network are you with?

You may need to get a new SIM card from your network provider and ask for a SIM Swap to be done.

[Jumbo744]

thank you guys.

The N95 is mine and is an unlocked model, so I can use it on any network. Right now I am in Africa, using a network called ZAIN. I'll go see the company on Monday, I hope they can reactivate it without me losing all the phone numbers saved on the sim?

Thanks again :ok:

[Background Noise]

Obtaining a PUK is usually remarkably simple - in fact for some providers it merely requires the phone number to be submitted to their website. That never seems very secure to me. Alternatively I have had them over an automated phone call as well. Not sure whether you are country-specific but the Zain (Kenya) website has these answers:

Q: My phone says PUK. What does it mean?
A: PUK is an abbreviation for PIN Unblocking Key. Your phone will display this message if a wrong PIN number has been entered more than three times. Take your phone to any Zain outlet and they will unblock it for you.

Q: Where do I get a sim replacement?
A: Get a free swap replacement at the nearest Zain center
Doesn't say whether they can recover the memory. Best to store contacts on the phone I guess, then they are useable with any sim.

According to the O2 website, for Nokia you get 2 messages:

For 'Simcard blocked - Enter PUK', you need a PUK,
for 'Simcard rejected' you need a new sim.

[planecrazy.eu]

No data should be lost on the sim or the phone.

This is just a block that is put on the phone when, like you say, some one enters the pin wrong 3 times or more.

Enter the PUK Wrong 3 times usually leads to SimCardBlock which like has been said renders it useless.

Either way, phone data is not lost. And if you cant get the PUK then a Sim card reader will recover data from the simcard.

[bnt]

When I got my phone, the PUK was on a piece of paper that came with the SIM.
(I've also stored the code in a "password safe" on my computer and phone: I use KeePass (http://keepass.info/), which is open source.)

[Twitcher]

My girlfriends daughter, on 3 network, recently entered her pin incorrectly and locked herself out. A call to 3 sorted it, they gave her the PUK code over he phone after verifying she is the owner of the phone.

[Gertrude the Wombat]

Yet more attempts to give technology answers to a people problem!

Correct answer:

Tell the person who messed with your phone to sort it, now, at no expense to you, and in the meantime you're borrowing their phone. Then it's their problem, not yours, to find out how to do it.

OK OK ... you're going to tell me it was a small child wot done it. There must have been someone responsible for the child, so the same applies to them.