Can someone easily reactivate my lost phone?

[AC Question]

I lost my Samsung Galaxy Edge S6 at Walmart. I have tried tracking it for a few days through Samsung find my phone but it's saying that it's not online so I'm not able to trace it. Can someone easily factory reset my phone and use it as their own? I did put a lock on it through my Samsung account and left a message for the finder. However, I was told that I may as well chop it up as a total loss and purchase a new phone because there are ways for people to factory reset my phone. I've only had the phone for 3 weeks...so bummed

 

[nahoku]

Even if they factory reset the phone they can't use or activate it because you locked it with your account. You can also report the phone stolen and the carrier will blacklist the IMEI which renders it useless on every carrier.