I found an approach which worked for me. It requires that you have set up a Samsung account, which fortunately I had. FIRST TAKE AWAY: if you have a Samsung phone, establish a free Samsung accoun...
See more...
I found an approach which worked for me. It requires that you have set up a Samsung account, which fortunately I had. FIRST TAKE AWAY: if you have a Samsung phone, establish a free Samsung account. What this allows you to do is log on to the Samsung site and use their app for finding your phone. The app has multiple tools, including ones to remotely lock and unlock your phone. When you activate the unlock, it removes all of the security features that have been set up on your phone... swipe, pattern, password, fingerprint, etc. This also removes the request for your backup PIN and restores full functionality. You can then go into Device settings and use the screen lock settings to reactivate your desired security feature. SECOND TAKE AWAY: record your backup PIN in a location off your phone so you don't end up in this situation again!