So you think you cannot be found if you use a punting phone? Think again. I have been using a punting phone for about 4 years now. This week I received a call on my punting phone informing me that I had missed a payment on my clothing account. All particulars were correct. This number has never been disclosed to any of my contacts or referenced on any accounts other than ESA. It appears the fatal error in my covert operation was to top up airtime from my bank account using my blue tree banking app. Is somebody taking kickbacks for disclosing confidential customer info? I guess its time for a new Pakistani SIM this time being topped up using a voucher bought with non-sequential notes on the other side of town.

"Is somebody taking kickbacks for disclosing confidential customer info? I guess its time for a new Pakistani SIM this time being topped up using a voucher bought with non-sequential notes on the other side of town."

Not to get too Edward Snowden about it but you would be amazed at the amount and quality of easily available information regarding telephone numbers that there is in SA.

For Example;

There are multiple credit bureaux in SA that all accumulate information.

So, when you have a fully RICA'd, one purchased from the Indian shop, one picked up off of the street or a friend / relative's number and you use it for any open credit account, it will quite often be associated with your credit profile.

If you purchase the phone off of Ibrahim in the Anywhere Mall and get him to put in a pre-RICA'd SIM you have a magnificent punting phone.

If, however you use that phone when speaking to your bank, car finance company, credit card company etc, use it to receive a one-time PIN from virtually any SA company, open a Trueworths account, when entering some competitions or completing certain surveys that number can be associated with your credit profile.

Each of the credit bureaux sell the information that they collect information. Its not that hard to get an account. Each of them provides a telephone / cell phone number search service which costs less that R30 per search.

Not all customers use the same credit bureau. Remember that you are not a credit bureau customer, your information is the product they sell.

So "Licorice Surveys" reports to Experian but "B Bop Promotions" reports to CompuScan. If you search only one credit bureaux you may not get a result for the number you are searching for so you make sure you search all four for the best accuracy and chances of a result. Some companies report to all of the credit bureaux.

From a cell phone number, it is frequently possible to get the holder's home address, place of work, email, marital status, spouse's name and associated telephone numbers.

The only way an anonymous cell phone number stays as anonymous as possible is when it is never used for anything that can be associated with you. I would advise against using a smart phone but if you do I would advise switching off all location based apps.

Your nemesis, whoever that might be only has to get both phones for a very short period of time to compare the location histories of both to compare them. At that point they know that cell phone numbers XXX-XXX-XXXX and ZZZ-ZZZ-ZZZZ are held by the same person.

Also remember to clear your browser caches or use a browser that does this automatically, the same applies to your phone.

Get a pre-RICA'd dumb phone from Ibrahim in the Anywhere Mall. Never use it for anything else other than punting, NOTHING. Charge it with a voucher purchased from any shop with cash and it'll be fine. If you are worried about CCTV and other surveillance you have bigger problems than you realize.

It's not even about taking kickbacks. You can easily be traced if one is willing to pay the fee for the service. And I'm not even talking about P.I's.

I can't be bothered if credit providers call me on my punting phone because I only use it to punt. Other than that it stays off.

Sad thing is that I was traced on a pre-RICA phone used for nothing but punting.

On 2019-09-22 08:31:03 Licorice said:
This week I received a call on my punting phone informing me that I had missed a payment on my clothing account.

Avoid this issue...Pay your clothing account!

There are also phone networks linking your number with any other number you have made contact with. If, for example, you've used your punting phone to ring up your main phone or vice versa, that link is made and that's the end of that story.

Yours sounds more related to credit bureaux as explained above however. Privacy is a footnote in history.

On 2019-09-22 19:35:58 semensquirter said:
On 2019-09-22 08:31:03 Licorice said: This week I received a call on my punting phone informing me that I had missed a payment on my clothing account.
Avoid this issue...Pay your clothing account!

LOL!!! Classic

"steve" called me said he was with me before and used my punting name. Pput lease please help me he says. I am in jail and i need to call my daughter as cant fetch her from school. I need you to put in little air time for me so i can call her as the police took his phone. But there he is on a small cheap phone (why did the cops not take that away too) and could i just just 12 rand in. I will take you for dinner as soon as he gets out after being locked up. Well of course i did not give him a cent. I guess he thought i would give him top up other than buying from the shop air time. Then prob would have ripped me off with my bank. Oh so many chancers out there!!!

[QUOTE;2017404;Sylvia] "steve" called me said he was with me before and used my punting name. Pput lease please help me he says. I am in jail and i need to call my daughter as cant fetch her from school...

Another girl I know thought it was for real a client of hers.. She bought the airtime sent it.. When she got to me visiting she told me about this.. My first thought was.. "Scamming scumbags" and said so.. You just confirmed it! Message was exactly the same..
Really some dodgy people out there lately!