Like everybody, you’ve undoubtedly received a ton of emails with “safety tips.” Because so many of these tips have been circulating around the Internet for years, the information gets changed and distorted. Some of the tips are bogus–created by someone out to generate a little attention and see how far they can spread the lies.
Michelle Sigona set out to figure out which ones are real and which are myths.
Myths:
- Entering your ATM PIN Number in reverse will notify police.
- Your car door can be opened by using a keyless remote pressed at a far away location into a cell phone holding your phone next to your car door.
- Dialing 112 will connect you to a Worldwide Emergency Operator even if your signal is blocked.
- Dialing *3370# will unlock hidden battery power in your cell phone.
Realities:
- In a disaster or emergency when many people are using their cell phones you’ll have an easier time contacting a loved one by text messaging rather than calling.
- An old cell phone without service will connect to 911 if it has power.
13 Comments on "Busting Email Myths and Urban Legends"
Dave Elfver
The cell phone WILL unlock doors . Works on my 2008 Chevrolet Suburban and 08 Chrysler 300
bob
112 is not a myth. It is the world wide standard for GSM phones. The clever part about 112 is that it works even if you remove the SIM card!
It is important to know this number if traveling in foreign county as the local emergency number varies. 112 is universal.
Steve
Maybe a clarification should be made that 112 indeed does work in some countries (ie. EU, Australia, Canada, etc) and connects to EFR - it’s not a complete myth, although it’s true that 112 will not work if signals are blocked.
Kristopher Augsburger
Clearly you have to be able to connect to a local cellular tower for the phone to connect to the emergency operator but this ‘tip’ is otherwise fairly accurate. 112 is the international number for emergency for GSM handsets, all the countries in the European Union, as well as several other countries. The only reason that 112 didn’t work on the phone was that your reporter was using a CDMA handset. Outside the US and Canada and a few other select countries it is rare to find a non GSM handset(i.e. outside of the US on virtually any mobile phone dialing 112 you *will* connect to the local emergency number.) Obviously I wouldn’t recomend dialing 112 in the US because 911 will connect to you to an emergency operator virtually anywhere in the US.(The obvious caveat for cell phone users is that in rural areas the carrier might route your call to an operators hundreds of miles away) Knowing that 112 will forward you to a local emergency operator is very useful to know for international travelers since various countries have different emergency numbers.
Dennis-AAA Tow driver
With my special tools, I unlocked a 2007 Corvette for a lady who’d heard the cell phone myth-then had her sit inside it, lock herself in and try it via her friend at home with spare keypad…It worked! After the call had my wife try it with her 2002 Dodge Stratus…Failed!…So it may depend on the car, the signal strength, the cell carrier-not sure. But I saw it work with my own eyes, so this is not a complete myth…
James M., Tuscon, Arizona
112 is an emergency number in Europe, the Middle East and most of Asia. In North America, the number is 911 (GSM phones and carriers in North America MAY convert 112 to 911.) There are other numbers, which are local, such as *78 and *67, etc.
cascade
I’m wondering that if an old Trac phone, with out new time, will still connect with 911 in emergancy.? Does anyone know. in case i run out of time,right before an emergancy?!
Wanda Marie Bennett
I received the email about locking your keys in the car. I told my husband about it and neither one of us believed it, so we tried it. Low and behold it did work we did it using both a cell phone and a land line. The cars we tried it on was a 1995 Nissan Altima and 2002 Hyundai Elantra.
jennifer
im guin to buy a new cell phone and what if i get it and i call people and they say my number is blocked wha shall i do…what if i dont have enough minutes or i dont even have minutes and im in a bad situation like and accident what shall i do ..this questions are for my saftey ..but i think i knoe what to do un block my number just in case i call the police and my phone gets uncharged and dies the police knoes where the call came from…well thats my story about buyin a new cellphone and needs to get in touch wit some one like if theres and emergency..so yeah …
thanks for the people that give me advice when i read these comments.
Carla
I tried using the cell phone and the land line phone to unlock my 2000 toyota camry and it did not work for me!
Jenn
I received an email stating that if I dial *77 on your cell phone from anywhere, you will be directly linked to a state trooper’s office in your area. For example if an unmarked police car is trying to pull you over and you are not sure if it is really a police officer, you can dial this number and they will be able to tell you…
Is any of this true???
I am me
Even iff your number is blocked, it will still appear when you call 911. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have minutes at the time. I’d recommend to try to have your phone charged when you can?? Plus, keep your old phone in reach, like in your car. so in case your battery dies, you can call from the old phone, even without minutes or anything. 911 is not capable of tracking all calls to their exact location.
Meredith
I see quite a few people who are commenting on the key fob thing. If you try to debunk this myth, you need to be aware of how powerful your key fob is. If your car is parked in the garage or even down the street, your key fob will work by itself just fine, even if you’re in your house. I can be in my apt. and unlock or lock my car from our kitchen, even if it several hundred feet away. If I were to try the “amazing cell phone key fob trick,” it would appear to work for me, when, in reality, it’s just that key fobs that are in good condition with a full battery have an amazing range. I had my husband drive the car to the front of our apartment complex, way out of fob range, and the trick, of course, did not work. I would like to know how far away from the cars these people were who claim the trick “works.”
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