Phone hacking - access to phone numbers

doberryfirkin

With reports of, seemingly, how easy it is to hack voicemail, many in the past have tried keeping their mob phone number private. I am minded of an organisation a few years back which intended making available, for a fee, the mobile number of anyone upon request. The trick was that mobile phone owners had to actively opt out of this. I for one did elect to opt out - although I never knew if this was effective.
Given current issues with hacking the merits of this service are, in my opinion, more circumspect. Being yet another example of a service from which the consumer has to actively protect themselves. Is this service still going? Did the majority sign off and for the record how did one opt out - I may want to ensure yet again that I am opted out?

macman

The way to safeguard your voicemail is not to use something obvious (like your DOB) as the PIN no. The networks abandoned default PIN's (1234, ,etc) years ago. These hacking allegations go way back to the early noughties.

Techhead_2

Some of the hacking attempts were even more serious because the 'hackers' used personal information to pretend to the network they were the account holder. Once through the security check they asked Customer Service to change the Voicemail PIN and therefore gain access to the messages.

How the personal information was obtained is part of the police investigation, but in the past journalists have employed private investigators to go through people's rubbish.