Unlock Samsung A12 - no data loss

[Beans and egg]

Hi, sadly my son (16yrs) passed away recently in an accident. I am trying to get every pictures and videos from his Samsung A12 to treasure every moment of his short life. The phone is locked and the remote unlock is turned off, so we cannot use the find my phone option. This is very important to me, I am willing to do anything to access those little parts of his life. We contacted Samsung and they said they cannot help us (which is extremely sad). Please help me. Thank you

[northwind]

I'm so sorry to hear that, my deepest condolences

I wish I could help, I'd do it for free, but I can't, I don't deal with cell phones unfortunately.

I hope some other member has know-how and is willing to help you.

I know my reply is not helpful; it's just a hug to you.

Wishing you the best.

[Beans and egg]

Thank you so much for the hug.

I truly hope someone will come forward even if it is just to say that they know someone who knows someone who could help.

I will not give up looking for a solution.

Thanks again

[northwind]

A long shot, and probably you've already checked, but:
Maybe your son had his cell phone account connected to a cloud service (eg. Google Photos) and was doing automatic backups? That way you wouldn't need to access the phone, just his google account.

[hyuce]

I am very sorry for your loss.

Did you talk to any mobile forensic firm in your country?

I don't know the Android version but I think the phone should be SM-A125F or a close model.

I think the phone can be unlocked if it is not intervened incorrectly. But only forensic companies can help you with this.

Best

[Beans and egg]

Hi Hyuce, no, I didn't talk to any mobile forensic firm. I have no idea what mobile forensic firms are. I am in the UK. I will google it now, but pls if you have any other info to share that you think may helpful I would be thankful. thanks

[Beans and egg]

A long shot, and probably you've already checked, but:
Maybe your son had his cell phone account connected to a cloud service (eg. Google Photos) and was doing automatic backups? That way you wouldn't need to access the phone, just his google account.

Hi Northwind, yes the account was linked to a google account but because his account was maxed out (not enough space), data had not backed up for several months. I have since purchased more space on his account hoping that the backup would refresh but it is not (not sure why). I have also contacted the Google support team asking them to look into it and help me by manually triggering a backup but they did provide any support. Not sure if there is anything else I could do on the Google front.

[hyuce]

If you live in the UK you can find some very good forensics firms.

As I said I don't know the exact phone model and android version but the phone can be unlocked,

But the devices and experience to solve this problem may be in a good forensic firm.

Amateur advice and practices will destroy your data. There is no DIY solution here.

Hi Hyuce, no, I didn't talk to any mobile forensic firm. I have no idea what mobile forensic firms are. I am in the UK. I will google it now, but pls if you have any other info to share that you think may helpful I would be thankful. thanks

[SirForensic]

Hi, sadly my son (16yrs) passed away recently in an accident. I am trying to get every pictures and videos from his Samsung A12 to treasure every moment of his short life. The phone is locked and the remote unlock is turned off, so we cannot use the find my phone option. This is very important to me, I am willing to do anything to access those little parts of his life. We contacted Samsung and they said they cannot help us (which is extremely sad). Please help me. Thank you

I'm sorry for your loss.

Is it still possible to type PIN code?

If it still allows typing PIN code, there's a chance to brute force through and get access to the data.
Chip off-recovery from the memory chip unfortunately is not possible in this case, because the data is encrypted.

There are only a few companies in the world that might have a chance to get access to the data, first of all, contact your local Cellebrite company: https://cellebrite.com/en/connect/uk/

[Beans and egg]

Thank you all for your advise. I will start contacting those companies immediately.