There is a rumor that’s been going around on a hack which supposedly only works with Zain sim cards which allows you to make free calls. I haven’t been able to find out what to do so I wanted to ask here if anyone knew the trick. This is what I’ve been able to gather about it online:
Frankom’s blog had a post where he said that you needed an iPhone for the trick to work. I have an iPhone but I haven’t found any information on what I need to do.
360Dewan had a link to a video (below) that looks like it was shot in Kuwait where the person in the video wraps aluminum foil around the sim card and then heats its up? That looked like total bullshit to me and no way on earth it would work if anything you would most probably damage your sim card trying that.
[YouTube]
Finally a user called HearBeat posted a link in my forum to a video (below) which looks like it could work but haven’t tried it out myself. Basically the video talks about the sim card and how every cell on the chip means something. The theory is one of the cells controls the clock so if you cover up that cell you would be able to talk for as long as you want and the telecom provider wouldn’t know how long you spoke for. HeartBeat also mentions this would only work on sim cards issued before 2002.
In any case Zain might have already fixed this bug (or they will after this post) but if anyone has any more info please post it below.
Thanks Rashed
28 replies on “How to make free cellphone calls?”
1) who still have a 2002 chip ?
2) I saw these videos above .. the question is isnt the foil dangerouse to the battrey heat ?
Fisrt ,,
Forget free calls… I just realized the flip side of Zain/Wataniya making incoming calls free. Looks like the whole country is on landlines for 24hrs. I can’t even make a call from my home phone! And when I call it from the mobile: “Network Busy”.
And this is a brand new (1 month old) fibre optic land line.
1) They are blocking skype and other services to cash on phone calls, i doubt they’d miss this ‘bug’.
2) I doubt charging phone calls got to do with the phone, it has to do with the service provider, your sim only act as a link between ur phone and service provider and has no control over credit or balance or anything.
3) i’ve been told that the ‘network busy’ thing is intentional from the mobile companies side to pressure the ministry to go back on its decision and charge us on the phone calls. i’ve also been told that the ministry is refusing that and is assuring the problem will be gone soon and by that they mean they’ll be charging landlines when they call cellphones.
and about that video.. why in the hell is she building a sim card reader!? these things are already available in the market and you can clone ur simcard at home…
It’s true.Wrap the sim card in foil and put it in the microwave for about 30 seconds.Anything longer and you will have to pay half the cost of your calls.
Shit..i just changed my 99 chip lastweek.
its poop. Reminds me of the infamous hotmail script of 1997.
dude thats old news http://www.talknopay.com
you have to stand on your head while you do it, with your tongue hanging out.
well this is unfair
we must gve everyone his/her rights. And Zain must not be cheated by people who use this trick :@
@3azeez
Available sim card reader do nothing but read your contacts and some of them clones the card if it is v1 sim card.
@Duff Man
add to cart doesn’t work. must be a ho x
the aluminum foil is a big joke
Technically it is not possible…. Total BS… Coz one the call is made, all the accounting is done at the backend system of the service provider. SIM is only used for user identification and authentication purpose!
at 3azeez who blocks Skype? Works fine in Q8.
So does it work yes or no?
Jens, you can use skype since the phone calls themselves are encrypted. but you can’t download it or top it up, at least not in the normal way, if there is a walk around, then i’m not aware of it. Fring is also blocked since it allows us to use IM and skype on our mobile phones through wifi.
i’m in the uk since last year and i’ve been going through hell when trying to call home (whether landline or mobile). I’ve been heard and i think a blogger wrote about it here (?) that this problem is because the ministry is using internet connection for international phonecalls!
well, most of my text messages are not going through to Zain, and whenever I want to call anyone in Kuwait i must spend 20 minutes redialing.
well im in dublin and i call kuwait and it works ok lol
I am surprised zain has not commented on this rumour yet.
You can top up your skype account using a ucash account. You can top up your ucash account by buying ucash prepaid credit from cameo computer shops which are located all over Kuwait. Easy peezy, lemon squeezy, il7as tee&$@#y. 😉
Skype WORKS
You can set skype to auto pay with paypal if you have it. that way when you run out of credits it charges automatically.
I just tried covering up the clock section of the chip and make a phone call but my phone wouldn’t even connect to the network! if there is a hack its not by covering up a section of the chip.
didn’t work for me either. if there’s a way to stop the clock, must be sumthin else
The clock she is talking about isn’t a clock to measure time it is the syncronization between the SIM micro-controller and the phone chip. covering it will only stop the SIM card from working.
Making phone calls for free is impossible because Zain calculates the time from there side not from the phone side.
zero thats what i figured and thats why i called this a rumor and not a fact. plus if there was a loop hole or bug its probably fixed as of now.
From my understanding of what was explained in a white paper that I have read several months ago, given the flawed design of GSM encryption process, anyone armed with basics understanding of calculus, programing, and information systems can clone a sim, and initiate and listen to calls, without access to the targetted sim card.
Regardless of how big a telecom is, as long as they are using GSM technology – assuming that the basic architecture remains static – telecom subscribers are at risk.
Well… Absolut hoax/urban legend.
Charging of mobile calls is done in the operator sites not in
mobiles.
If you have prepaid subscription then the charging is done on-line (during the call) by IN (Intelligent Network device) that is in case of Zain Kuwait Siemens Charge@Once platform. When you establish the call, the call is triggered from mobile switching center (MSC) to IN. IN receives IDP(Initial Detection Point) message. Based on the time, called number and location of callling party, the tariff for the call is defined. Charging starts as soon as called party answers the call based on the defined tariff. Time of the answer is detected as well as end of the call (Call Disconnect). The account that is deducted resides inside the IN system, not in the mobile. No way to fool the system with any tricks in mobile.
If you have postpaid line, the sequence is a bit different. For postpaid calls, the tariff is defined according to same criterias than for prepaid calls. This time MSC takes care of the detection of answer and call disconnect times. For each call a Call Detail Record (CDR) is generated in the MSC including start time, end time, call duration, tariff etc. Based on that data post processing system ‘writes’a row into your bill.
Any tricks related to clock chips in SIM or phonedoes not have anyimpact since time used for defining start/end times is located in network element (IN/MSC) that handles the call.
wow what do you do for a living?
Worked with mobile networks @ Nokia/Nokia Siemens Networks almost 11 years. Past 3 years here in Q8.
ah thats explains it 🙂