How can a stranger get to my PIN?
 

Hi,

every now and then I get an request to add someone on my BB Messenger but I never give away my PIN. Only one Person knows it and wouldn't give it away.
Today I even got three requests and I don't know how they would get to my PIN?



Greetings JC

Is that a new handset you bought from the carrier or you got it second hand?

It was a new one. I got it last August and till today I got about three requests and today another three.

And they never show real names but some sign combinations.

go to Options -- Security Options -- Firewall, change the status to Enabled if not already so and tick PIN under Block Incoming Messages.

Scroll down and add an exception for your friend/s.

After that people that are not on your list won't be able to PIN you. Or that's the idea at least, doesn't work on my Bold. :(

Ok thanx.

But how do strangers get to the PIN anyway?

There is a chance your friends are passing along your pin to some mutual friends.

What it comes down to is that if whoever you don't know gets annoying, you could always just block that pin as stated above.

If you're asking how to find your pin, go to Options>Status and you'll find it under pin. Correct me if I misunderstood you...

There is only one person who knows my PIN and it can't be him.

I enabled the Firewall now but it is still strange.

It's rather easy to extrapolate the whole range in a couple lines of code, it's finite. I never saw mass PIN spamming reported before. Do the requests come with personal messages? Are they addressed to you?

Since we never had mass PIN spamming issues on some thousands Blackberries i would assume you received 6 messages over 8 months by mistake. Or someone with a similar looking PIN posted it in facebook or those PIN-exchange places. Or you may have done it yourself over the months and don't remember about it.

In any case, try the firewall blocking options for now, and let us know how it goes.

It always just says ... wants to add you; never a name but random (to me random) signs. Also no message to it that I could figure who it comes from or if it really was for me.

I am very sure that I never gave the PIN away. I only use it with that one Person and never thought of adding someone else. For that I would use another Messenger. I also know no one else with a BB.

We can do a thing or two about that. I'm sure we can find at least a couple Blackberry users in here. Welcome by the way :smile:

Wirelessly posted (9520 / MF231)

They could be adding you by email address.

The Pin number is included in the BB messenger messages sent to others with a BB. No other method except this uses a Pin contact. So if its not as JSanders suggests, someone is giving out your pin number. In some locations people put phone numbers in the bathroom stalls, maybe it has been upgraded to Blackberry pin numbers.

Wirelessly posted (9520 / MF231)

Tsac how are you so certain that it can't be an email add request?

My BB Email is also only known by this one Person.
I added the Windows Messenger last week; is it maybe possible that they can access my PIN through that even if they don't belong to my contact list?

Not long ago I got another request.

I even tried google now to see if my PIN or Email are somewhere in the internet but 0 results.

JSanders, Let me clarify my comments. I agree with your statements. All I'm saying is unless it is included in an email as you suggest, nothing standard on the BB except the BB messenger app includes it automatically so someone is adding it somewhere or giving it out.

Wirelessly posted (9520 / MF231)

JC, do you only have this one very private email address pushing to the BlackBerry?
none other?

I have also one other but it hardly ever get used because only three of my family and my bf know about this one.
all other mails I check from internet; often with the BB but via the browser.

go into the phone options and turn the firewall on. if you have an application that is allowed to look at certain parts of your phone, then it could enable someone else to get the pin from you.

Why can't you ask them? They have your PIN but now you have theirs. Accept someone and BBM them back asking that question.