Can a lost Galaxy S3 be reset and used by the finder with Sprint or another carrier?

[Aragornelxxii]

I lost my S3 on an Amtrak train. I called Sprint to terminate service to that phone so no one else could use it on my account. I had insurance at 11.00 a month but the Sprint repsaid even with the insurance it would cost me 200.00 for a new phone. The next night a guy called my daughter and left a message that he'd found the phone and wanted to return it. The only way he could have gotten my daughter's number was off my phone. She texted him with my email address and he wrote to me saying another employee had found the phone and reset it but then had turned it over to him since he recognized my area code and lived in the same area. Long story short, I got the phone back, gave the young man (who seemed very nice and brought his girlfriend with him when he met me to return the phone) the 100.00 reward I promised for the phone. However, I offered that reward with the idea in mind that I would be getting all my pictures, contacts etc along with the phone. Resetting the phone erased all my information so I regret the size of the reward. What I'm wondering is why he reset it if he was planning to return it? He must have gotten my daughter's number before the reset so the reset happened after he'd texted about wanting to return it. My question, therefore, is: Is my reset phone completely unidentifiable and therefore able to be used by someone one else with another carrier, or even with Sprint?

 

[Golfdriver97]

I lost my S3 on an Amtrak train. I called Sprint to terminate service to that phone so no one else could use it on my account. I had insurance at 11.00 a month but the Sprint repsaid even with the insurance it would cost me 200.00 for a new phone. The next night a guy called my daughter and left a message that he'd found the phone and wanted to return it. The only way he could have gotten my daughter's number was off my phone. She texted him with my email address and he wrote to me saying another employee had found the phone and reset it but then had turned it over to him since he recognized my area code and lived in the same area. Long story short, I got the phone back, gave the young man (who seemed very nice and brought his girlfriend with him when he met me to return the phone) the 100.00 reward I promised for the phone. However, I offered that reward with the idea in mind that I would be getting all my pictures, contacts etc along with the phone. Resetting the phone erased all my information so I regret the size of the reward. What I'm wondering is why he reset it if he was planning to return it? He must have gotten my daughter's number before the reset so the reset happened after he'd texted about wanting to return it. My question, therefore, is: Is my reset phone completely unidentifiable and therefore able to be used by someone one else with another carrier, or even with Sprint?

Welcome to the forums!
Resetting the phone would have rid the phone of settings, and such. Have you looked through it to see if the pictures are still there? Under My Files, or DCIM?
As of right now, I think Sprint blacklists the MEID. If that is correct, no one could use the device, until it gets totally hacked and the MEID is changed.