Phone got factory reset after US roaming addon activated

[NM2000]

Hello,

I purchased the US roaming talk addon prior to going to the US....as soon as I croseed the border and entered US, first I got an "E" (emergency only) stauts on the phone and I couldn't make any calls...few minutes later, my Samsung s9 phone automatically factory reset itself without any warning...This, I assumed, happened when roaming activated on the new phone network...I lost all data and apps on the phone. I had to go through registration process after that and phone connected to the new provider's network. I don't this think, this was normal. Any help would be appreciated? So upset that I lost everything on the phone. 

[duddlsk]

This exact thing happened to me yesterday, I also have the Galaxy S9. Thursday I purchased the $15 US roaming 500mb data only add on. Friday flew out to Washington DC, switched off airplane mode once I arrived, also saw the E signal briefly, but then switched to the usual signal bars with R for roaming. Then maybe 5 minutes later, had to watch my phone in dismay as it factory reset itself. Still in US, had to spend all first day restoring my phone. I understand it's a bizarre association, but it's definitely happening to multiple people...

[srlawren]

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@computergeek541 wrote:

Many Samsung phones do actually do a self factory reset after you first get it.  I made this mistake before by getting my brand new Samsung phone configured the way that I wanted and all apps installed and updated before installing by sim card.  

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@computergeek541 I've never owned a Samsung but had the same experience when my better half got her S8 and we were setting it up together.  Got everything nicely configured, then moved the SIM card from her S7 and bam, factory reset.  That was a very annoying lesson to learn!

That said, @NM2000 we have also taken that same S7 and S8 to the US with PM US Roaming add-ons many, many times and have never had the experience you had.  It's almost as if the phone thought the SIM card had changed to another provider's and the phone initiated a factory reset.  This sounds like a defect with the phone, as the other responders have mentioned already.  I just wanted to add some personal hands-on experience here.  Along with the two Samsung models I've already mentioned, I've personally taken a Moto X (1st gen) and two OnePlus phones (3 and 5T) to the US with PM roaming add-ons without issue.

[computergeek541]

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@NM2000 wrote:

Hello,

I purchased the US roaming talk addon prior to going to the US....as soon as I croseed the border and entered US, first I got an "E" (emergency only) stauts on the phone and I couldn't make any calls...few minutes later, my Samsung s9 phone automatically factory reset itself without any warning...This, I assumed, happened when roaming activated on the new phone network...I lost all data and apps on the phone. I had to go through registration process after that and phone connected to the new provider's network. I don't this think, this was normal. Any help would be appreciated? So upset that I lost everything on the phone. 

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This isn't anything to do with the add-on or roaming.  This is about the phone and the software installed on it.

I know there was talk about the phone being set remotely. This can be done from within your Google account, and all someone needs is the account password.

Many Samsung phones do actually do a self factory reset after you first get it.  I made this mistake before by getting my brand new Samsung phone configured the way that I wanted and all apps installed and updated before installing by sim card.  Many Samsung phone automatically do a factory reset without warning after doing that, partly to do with the carrier customization process (even for devices purchased as unlocked), and sometimes to even lock the device.  After this type of factory reset, because it was not initiated through the normal process, the phone thinks something funny happened and you actually have something called Factory Reset Protection kick in which means that you then have to enter your Google account login to regain access to your device. 

A rogue app could also do this.  Changing sims, plans, or add-ons should not.

[NM2000]

@Alex888 I don't have any such app that I know of...this has happened first time since I owned the phone 3 months ago..also since I am using fingerprint unlock, it's unlikely that there were any login failures...one thing that now comes to my mind is I got a message saying an unauthorized attempt has been to access your device or something to that effect...not sure if this was due to change of network when roaming addon activated or phone was hacked in, but what a co-incidence!!

[Alex888]

@NM2000 There are ways for the OS or an app to factory reset a phone after too many login attempts, did you have any security software or encryption on your phone?

[NM2000]

It's highly unlikely that it was done by me while getting the addon to work, as factory reset option is buried deep in settings...you have to navigate few screens before you get to it. The factory reset co-incided right when the roaming became active...

I've heard that sometimes when you put another provider's SIM card, the phone factory resets itself, but even that wasn't the case here, since it was the SAME sim card, howeve, it connected to another provider's network.  Still trying to think how it could have happened, but this is so unfortunate. 

[hairbag1]

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@NM2000 wrote:

Hello,

I purchased the US roaming talk addon prior to going to the US....as soon as I croseed the border and entered US, first I got an "E" (emergency only) stauts on the phone and I couldn't make any calls...few minutes later, my Samsung s9 phone automatically factory reset itself without any warning...This, I assumed, happened when roaming activated on the new phone network...I lost all data and apps on the phone. I had to go through registration process after that and phone connected to the new provider's network. I don't this think, this was normal. Any help would be appreciated? So upset that I lost everything on the phone. 

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With all due respect...is it possible that in your haste to get the US Add-on working, you yourself initiated a factory reset...by mistake ? Never heard of a factory reset happening by itself.

[steff12321]

Sorry to hear, but this doesn't have anything to do with the addon being activated. There is no way for the network to factory reset your phone, even if they wanted to. 

Sounds like an issue with the phone hardware/software, or maybe it was done through Find My Android? 

Very strange... And I don't think there is any way at this point to figure out why this happened or what caused it since all data was deleted.