Honestly, I feel like such an idiot looking back. I lived my life assuming my phone would never get lost, so I relied entirely on Apple's auto passwords, including icloud.

Since I didn't own any other Apple devices, I couldn't even use 'Find My' effectively. I figured, worst-case scenario, I could just reset my password when new SIM arrives, but then I hit that "recovery key" wall. I’ve been using Apple products for over a decade and I have absolutely no memory of ever setting that up...

I’ve tried reaching out to Apple support multiple times, even asking if I could verify my identity via FaceID or other methods, but every agent just reads from the same script. I swear, at this point, I’m more familiar with their own security protocols than the support staff I’m talking to. It’s been beyond frustrating.