HELP! I need help with the activation lock on my iPad mini

Well, I was phished and lost 10's of thousands pictures, email and every one of my contacts. Some of which were pretty major. That's the struggle story. After going through 2 month of work with 5 levels of security at Apple, they gave me the option of nothing but a prayer. New email address and pass for my apple account. I was a .mac from the very first version of apple mail. My wife purchased a iPad Mini for back in 2016 or 2017. WE do not have a receipt, the iPad Mini is practically brand new and I cannot wipe it clean and start all over because the Activation Lock will not let me reset without the original email and password that was phished and has been unpublished by security at Apple. What are my options if any? Very frustrating as it's a gift from my wife and I'd like to use it again. Thank you in advance for any help or advice.