Modern Android actually does support disk encryption. And the Pixels even have TPMs that should (?) safeguard the key, preventing offline brute forcing the unlock pattern. I wonder what happened here that this did not work...

Someone else here mentioned that the the reddit comments (now deleted) said that the phone had no passcode on it, so anyone would be able to unlock it.

Ah, that's it then. I figured they would likely have a passcode, since the "someone steals my phone on public transport" threat vector is a pretty obvious one even for non-tech users. Unfortunately the thread got nuked before I got to read it more...

I wonder what kinds of tickets, if any, justify them asking you for your unlock pattern.

This week I was in a chat with the REAL support of a crypto currency.

Unable to help me with my problem at first (we eventually figured it out), they felt they hit a dead end and said: "ok, just send us your wallet.dat, we'll fix it".

I know those guy were the real deal. I knew they would not try to steal the money I had on this wallet, because it was so little it was not even worth the time.

Yet, the fact they asked that proves how much support can badly educate their users.

Of course, I didn't send my wallet, and found another solution since I'm tech saavy. But still...

I once got my screen replaced at one of the phone fix-it places. It's a decent sized chain, not just some rando. On the form you fill out during drop-off it asks you for your unlock code.

What did they say when you didn't include the passcode?

I wiped the phone before I brought it to them, so I just gave them the passcode.

none since they can wipe the phone without a passcode. This is true for both iphone and android phones. I'm not familiar with off-brand OS phones though.

Seems OP never had a password lock to begin with

Would windows Bitlocker work too? My issue is that Veracrypt requires you to mount a drive, while Bitlocke provides protection over the whole drive (barring your adversaries being Microsoft and/or the NSA).

I just tried Bitlocker for the first time a few days ago. I enabled it, and next time I booted it up, it never asked for my password. It turns out it only protects the drive if it's removed from the computer.

I just used VeraCrypt instead.

Really? My Bitlocker setup requires me to enter in a password to unlock the drive.

Maybe I did something wrong, but when I looked it up online when that happened, that's what I read.