# Is it possible to recreate a PIN/handphone number by listening to the dial tones?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-recreate-a-pin-handphone-number-by-listening-to-the-dial-tones/512326>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 2, 2009, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-recreate-a-pin-handphone-number-by-listening-to-the-dial-tones/512326 "2009-10-02T08:08:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![gurujulp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba9def/32.png) [@gurujulp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gurujulp)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-recreate-a-pin-handphone-number-by-listening-to-the-dial-tones/512326/21 "2009-10-06T21:56:19Z")

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And with an normal (US) frequency scanner, you can pick up other people’s cordless phone conversations.

I understand with the Canadian versions, you can even get cell phones. Record that, decode the numbers, et voila! Easy theft of your information.

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**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-recreate-a-pin-handphone-number-by-listening-to-the-dial-tones/512326/22 "2009-10-06T22:04:33Z")

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> [@gurujulp](#):
>
> And with an normal (US) frequency scanner, you can pick up other people’s cordless phone conversations.
> 
> I understand with the Canadian versions, you can even get cell phones. Record that, decode the numbers, et voila! Easy theft of your information.

Not with most cordless phones sold today. Most are digital, and many are frequency-hopping.

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