Avoid unwanted, phontom, ghost mobile data billing
Written by pmd - - no commentsOn a French SIM card supplied by Syma Mobile (wiki), I was being charged with incomprehensible data:
- roaming was disabled !
- and later I even disabled mobile data !
Still I was billed data cost.
And I was not alone. This is why: Phantom Roaming
Learn more reading other various links:
- Phantom Roaming
- Ghost Roaming Explained
- Re: Syma preleve deux fois 20€ sans motif
- Beware of the Fido Roam Trap
- How to stop android using roaming data when it's disabled?
- Turning data roaming off does not work
- Urlaubs-Ärgernis: Geister-Roaming bei Simply (Telefonica-Netz) - Holiday annoyance: Ghost roaming with Simply (Telefonica network)
What I did to reliably avoid such cost while avoiding Plane Mode (so I keep the possibility to receive/answer calls and sms abroad):
- Disable roaming for the SIM you don't want to be charged roaming abroad.
- Force the SIM to use a no data protocol to establish connection with antennas: 2G (GSM) or 3G (WCDMA).
April 2025: It's now more than a year that I avoid being charged ghost roaming thanks to this technic.