Help Magnet used to wipe device

[Ramseyfosho]

I was talking with a rep from an insurance company that deals with damaged phones. They said that one of the first things they do when they receive damaged phones is run them under a large magnet to wipe the phone. I forgot to have them explain how this works. Does anyone know?

 

[scary alien]

This interesting and insightful article will probably answer all of your questions:

http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/how-magnets-really-affect-phones-hard-drives/​

There's a few things that caught my eye:

There’s even better news if you have a flash or a solid state drive. “Flash drives and SSDs are not really affected by a strong, static magnetic field,” according to Michael.​

And, using a large/strong magnet will also likely damage / change some of the key components in the device, so I'm guessing it would no longer be usable (i.e., as a remanufactured device).