Locked out of Android phone - "Wrong PIN"

I'm really confused here!

Over the summer, I replaced my very basic IMO Q2 Plus phone (I think it's called), which operates on Android Go, no idea which version, 4x? maybe? (I bought it in 2019).  I transferred the SIM to my new phone, but have been using the Q2 to continue playing games on and doing various other things which don't require a SIM.  I can also use it to go online when I'm at home, using our Wi-Fi, but that's the only Wi-Fi it's set up to use.

Everything was fine until today.  I downloaded an update to a game from the Play Store, and the phone was working fine then, and later on when I started to play the game again.  Then this evening I recharged it - in my office, where it has no internet access.  I flicked the button to wake it up as usual, but nothing happened.  Tried to call up the Airplane/Restart/Switch Off menu, but nothing happened, so in the end I took out the battery, put it back in again and the phone started fine.  Until I tried to put my PIN in, when it came up with "Wrong PIN".  And again, and again.  I know I've put the right PIN in, but it's not accepting it!  Have I been hacked, or something, and someone's changed my PIN?  Or are there some other alternative scenarios?  The only one I can come up with is that something had physically changed in the phone so that where I was tapping wasn't registering as it should, but I don't think that's very likely.

It no longer being my "real" phone, I've been sloppy about updating it - and also I never got around to syncing it with the new one, so I can't pick things up from there.  But I've got through an awful lot of game levels and things over the past few months, and I really don't want to have to go back to zero or so.

I've had a bit of a nose around online in the hope of finding some help, and have tried rebooting the phone a couple of times as that was suggested as a possibility - but with no joy.  Can anyone advise if there's anything I can do, please?

Edited by alisp, 08 December 2023 - 08:22 PM.

If this is Android do a hard reset. This will wipe all the data on the phone.

Most Android phones are hard reset using the power and down volume button. See the below video.

Thanks, John.  I had been hoping I'd be able to retrieve all my data somehow   At least most of my photos, not that there were many, or particularly vital ones, were on the SD card I'd inserted, so shouldn't be lost. I'm just glad I'm not one of those people who keeps their whole life on their phones.  But I'm still bemused as to why the phone now suddenly "thinks" my PIN is wrong.  I thought major downloads from the Play Store would be safe, but I can't see where else I might have picked anything up from.

Oh hell.  I've just spotted, at the top of the page, "AutoSpill attack steals credentials from Android password managers"   Could this have something to do with it?

Edited by alisp, 09 December 2023 - 12:19 PM.

Do you use a Password Manager on that Android Phone? Did you use the phone for banking without the SIM, using only WIFI? Do you have a link for the game on the play store?

Also from the below link it seems the PIN is what unlocks the SIM card but you had no SIM in the phone so I'm not sure what is going on. I wonder if you put the SIM back in the phone and then input the PIN it would work.

https://www.wikihow.com/Determine-Your-Mobile-PUK-Code

I have read if you enter the wrong PIN 3 times the phone will lock and even a hard reset will not work. You will need to call the carrier and ask for a PUK (PIN unlock key), But it also

https://www.hardreset.info/devices/imo/imo-q2-pro/faq/faq/i-have-forgotten-a-pin-code-what-should-i-do/

https://deviceguides.vodafone.co.uk/imo/q2-plus-android-8-1-go-edition/basic-use/unblock-pin/

John, thank you very much for all your trouble.  It hadn't occurred to me to approach either my provider or the manufacturer (and in fact I think IMO were completely unresponsive when I contacted them a couple of years back - although perhaps that may have been due to Covid, now I come to think of it).  I may pop into the Vodafone shop sometime after Christmas when it's quiet and ask for advice, because it's not desperately urgent now - I've managed to get a couple of the games I was using transferred and updated on the new phone by logging in with my email address, which is something. 

As to your questions, no, I didn't use a password manager on the old one, and didn't do internet banking on it, or any other payment that would have involved using any WiFi apart from my home one.

Then I would do what you plan on. Visit the shop and see what they have to say. I don't think you have anything to worry about other than getting what data you need off the phone.