Samsung s5 abnormal factory reset

[Cowboys2287]

I just purchased a s5 off craigslist for 350. Thought I did my homework and called Verizon to verify it wasn't lost of stolen. All checked out fine. So went ahead and purchased the phone, bought a sim card and called and activated it through Verizon. That all went find. But during setup of phone I get the abnormal factory reset screen. So I called Verizon, they told me to call Samsung, as I did. They told me to call back with my carrier on the line, again did so. At this point, both told me there's nothing they can do for me. That I needed to contact previous owner, so I did so. I said either give me the info or money back, they quickly said they would give my money back, (great!) we set a time up to meet and they never showed later that night they text me n said they have the info to call them. I did so but she said let me text it to you. Well that was yesterday morning, I've made several contacts to them with no response. So I went to the Web and also went to my brothers (which he is a developer, not a phone developer but he is much more knowledgeable than me). We looked for back doors, but all seem to be patched. I also recreated a Samsung account registering the phone to it, doing a factory reset, still nothing. Tried to flash it to a older version (4.4.4 & 4.4.2). But Odin couldn't get it to pass. I've tried calling the phone & text as its active but nothing shows up. I tried connecting ear phones to it and making the music screen come up, again nothing. I'm out of ideas and out of 350 at this post. hard lesson learned here about buying phones on Craigslist. But I figured I'd post this on here to see if anyone has any other ideas

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! That's unfortunate. What's the abnormal factory reset screen? Is it the bootloader or recovery menu?

 

[Cowboys2287]

Thank you, this is the screen I get

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[B. Diddy]

I think that's due to Samsung's Knox security software. I'm not sure if you can bypass that. Keep trying to contact the seller, and just let them know you want her to sign in using her Samsung account, so that you can do a proper factory reset--she doesn't have to give you your money back. Of course, you'd have to meet in person, because she probably wouldn't want to give you her account and password over the phone. If there's still no response, then you may want to contact the police, since you have her contact information. If the phone had been stolen, I would have expected the IMEI to be blacklisted, but still, this behavior is very fishy. Or maybe it's a defective phone, and she was hoping no one would notice.

 

[B. Diddy]

It might still be worth reporting it as a possibly stolen item, because of the suspicious circumstances. Assuming she doesn't live hundreds of miles away, it seems odd that she wouldn't be willing to meet up again just to input her account information so that you can access the phone, and then do a proper factory reset in her presence. The police might just blow it off, but if you do get someone who is willing to track things down, a call or visit from an officer might light a fire under her behind and encourage her unlock the phone for you.

 

[ram1220]

This is a civil matter and not a police matter. The only legal recourse the buyer has would be a claim in a civil court. At least here in the US this is not a police matter.

 

[Cowboys2287]

so heres an update

after dealing with samsung for MANY hours. They asked i send the phone in for repair. which i did. well today i got the phone back and get what. its my luck the phone is still stuck on the abnormal factory reset!!! so i called Samsung. first guy i talked to transferred me, then the phone hung up. called back waited for an hour on hold. so i hung up and called back. then i finally get to someone that i thought could help me. well she says she will have to contact/email the devlope team and email me back within 24 hours with a POSSIBLE fix.. this has been the worst experience ever. advance to anyone buying phone off craigslist. MAKE SURE YOU CAN ACCESS THE HOME SCREEN!!.. if anyone has figured a bypass please send me a pm or comment. id even pay a small fee for this.

 

[anon(9424572)]

Don't know if this YouTube video is pertinent to your predicament but will add the url just in case:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=75DKAGNstbM