Fair-
Taiwan trade officials are investigating reports that Samsung has paid people to criticize rival HTC online.
Samsung allegedly hired students to comment negatively on Taiwan's HTC phone.
Samsung, based in South Korea, said the "unfortunate incident" violated the company's "basic principles ".
If convicted of "false advertising", Samsung and its local agents could face a fine of up to 25 million Taiwanese dollars (£547,000).
A spokesman told AFP that the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission began its investigation after receiving a series of complaints.
According to PC Advisor, a document released by a local website shows that Samsung has been recruiting students to criticize HTC and praise Samsung anonymously online.
Samsung Taiwan said it had not yet been informed of the investigation, but the subsidiary issued a statement on its local Facebook page saying it "stopped all marketing campaigns involving anonymous comments ".
The company said that all marketing work in the future will be more in line with its transparent and honest corporate philosophy.
The company said: "The recent incident was unfortunate and occurred due to insufficient understanding of these basic principles . " The company added that it is planning training for its employees to ensure
In early 2013, Samsung was fined by Taiwan authorities for advertising misleading consumers on the Galaxy Y Duo.