September 20, 2016 10:17
A report of an exploding battery in a Galaxy Note 7 smartphone in China was a hoax aimed at getting compensation from Samsung.
The hoaxer tried to ride the coattails of a global scandal over combustible batteries in the model, but the batteries in his phone were made by ATL and not implicated in the recall.
The combustible Note 7 batteries were made by Samsung SDI.
The alleged incident was reported on Sunday with a photo of a scorched Galaxy Note 7 on Chinese portal Baidu.
The person who posted the photo claimed that the screen of the Note 7 suddenly darkened and the device soon burst into flames. Samsung's call center in China received another report of an exploding Note 7 the same day.
Samsung and ATL checked both handsets, and x-ray and computer scans showed that the batteries had been exposed to external heat, Samsung said.
The devices retrieved in China showed massive heat damage while the battery remained relatively unscathed, whereas in the incidents that triggered the recall only the battery caught fire and scorched the surrounding frame.
One of the hoaxers was discovered to have posted a message on WeChat expressing hope that his phablet would explode so he could get compensation.
Samsung said it is considering a criminal complaint against the hoaxers.
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