How to Protect Your SIM Card from Phone Thieves

Mobile phones have become a part and parcel of our daily lives, and with the increasing usage of mobile phones, phone thefts have become a common occurrence. In this blog post, we will discuss how you can protect your SIM card from phone thieves.

Please find below the process to password protect your SIM card against phone thieves that might want to use the USSD code to carry out transactions from your bank account.

1. Go to SETTINGS in Your phone.

2. Go to SECURITY & LOCATION or BIOMETRICS & SECURITY then to OTHER SECURITY under SETTINGS

3. Go to SIM CARD LOCK.


4. Click on LOCK SIM CARD.

5. Enter Your mobile network default SIM CARD PIN.

i. For MTN users it is "00000". 

ii. For AIRTEL users it is "1111".

iii. For 9mobile and GLO users it is "0000"

6. After entering the MOBILE NETWORK DEFAULT PIN, under it You will see " CHANGE SIM PIN", click on it to change to Your unique 4-digit pin.

7. Confirm Your unique 4-digit pin by entering it again & YOU ARE DONE.

What this means is that, anytime you "turn on" your phone, you will be prompted to enter your SIM card PIN just as you will be prompted to enter your phone lock PIN or draw your pattern each time you "start" (turn on) your phone.

With the activation of SIM Lock on your phone, any time your phone is lost, your money can never be withdrawn from your bank account through your SIM because your SIM will be useless in their hands since it is blocked, and you will not be under pressure to go and block or retrieve your stolen SIM.

Did you find this useful? Please kindly share this information with Your loved ones because the rate of phone theft these days are alarming as they (phone thieves) are not just after the phone but SIM CARDS linked to Your bank account.