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Google is finally beginning to realize that there are ways to get around their Factory Reset Protection. No matter what changes they make to try and keep a would be thief from being able to use a stolen phone methods are always found to get past their security measures. With factory reset if a phone is ever factory reset you have to provide the Google account information to gain access to the phone.
With Android 8.1 you are no longer asked to sign in to your account. Instead you are asked for your "Previously used secret". This issue was encountered by reddit user "Tom Bolger". He forgot his PIN and decided to factory reset the device thinking that he would be asked to sign into his Google account. When he got the request for previously used secret instead he called Google who suggested factory resetting again. This just resulted in the same screen requesting the previously used secret. Google eventually had him ship in the unit for a replacement.
I had to factory reset my Pixel 2 XL the other day. The phone was running Android 8.1, and I did not run into this issue. Ever since Factory Reset Protection was launched by Google I have been in the habit of logging out of every single account prior to factory resetting a device. If you decide to upgrade to the Android 8.1 Developer Beta Preview just be sure not to forget your PIN, and always log out of all accounts in the accounts menu in settings before factory resetting your data.
via Reddit
