My mother-in-law was out all day and was able to use her Android phone without issues until she suddenly couldn't unlock it with her PIN. Despite trying to power it off and factory reset the device, she still can't access it. We're concerned it might have been hacked, as the PIN seems to have changed. Does anyone have any tips or advice on what we can do?
3 Answers
First thing she should do is clean the screen and take off any screen protector to make sure she's entering the code correctly. If the factory reset isn't working, it might need a recovery Gmail account to clear the lock. Some newer models like Samsung require the Wi-Fi password to verify ownership. Was she able to successfully use the power button for a hard reset, or was that not an option for her?
It's tough to say for sure without more context. Do you know what she was doing on her phone before it locked her out?
She was at a bar with friends. The phone stayed in her bag, so nothing should have happened to it. She sent a message around 7 PM, and by 9 PM, it was completely unresponsive.
You should be able to perform a factory reset through the phone's boot menu. I doubt it's really been hacked. Has she used a fingerprint or face recognition for unlocking, or just the PIN?
She typically uses only her PIN and didn't set up any biometric unlock options. They attempted a factory reset, but it didn’t seem to work.
Thanks for the suggestions! We'll try the Gmail recovery option. She attempted a factory reset but couldn't access the phone at all to do it through the menu.