I pre-ordered this phone back in Sept. 2020. It was brand new, the unlocked 512GB version (close to $2,000). It has been a great phone up until yesterday.
I was at work, listening to music from my phone via the Youtube music app on a Bluetooth speaker. Then my phone rang. It was extremely loud through the Bluetooth speaker, like much louder than normal. I thought it was strange. Then as I went to slide the button to answer the call, the screen went black and the "SAMSUNG" logo in white letters appeared on the screen.. I thought it was weird, but maybe it had just crashed and needed to reset.
When the screen came back on, I noticed that the lock screen image was not of me and my fiance the day we got engaged, but a different one (the stock one when you first get the phone). There was no fingerprint button and no code needed to turn it on. Immediately I was concerned. I swiped and it opened it asked me what language I wanted my phone to be. Now I am panicked. It asks me to connect to a wireless network. I skip through everything and get to my home screen, and everything is wiped clean. All my apps, pictures, videos, notes, memories, ALL GONE. The SD was wiped clean as well. I had thousands of pictures from over 15 years of Samsung phones erased in an instant. EVERYTHING PERSONAL TO ME WAS WIPED OUT. I have nothing. There were pictures I will never get to see again. I am beyond saddened by this.
Why would my phone do this? I understand needing to reboot here and there, but a complete factory reset UNPROMPTED is unacceptable. How in the world did this happen? And how can I get my personal memories back!? Is there any hope for me? I am literally so upset by this, I feel that I am going to go into a deep depression.
I have tried several file recovery methods on the SD card but they are all finding nothing. I truly think everything is gone forever. Thanks a lot Samsung for designing this phone with this function to self-factory reset without permission... it has ruined my life.
