Rumors that site 'steals' pics dismissed by WeChat

What's owner has dismissed online rumors that a link posted by many users leads to a site that "steals" photographs from mobile phones.

Internet giant Tencent said it had verified that the site offering to "predict what your future children will look like" was not malicious.

The site has proved popular with many WeChat users, with links posted thousands of times through the smartphone messaging app's Moments function.

WeChat users who click on the link are taken to a mobile web page where they are asked to rub on a square to reveal a photograph of a child.

It is claimed that evaluation is based on account holders' WeChat portraits and other photos in their phones.

But some web users said they lost photos after using the service and urged netizens not to post the link.

Yesterday, Tencent stepped in and sought to reassure WeChat users that the link led to nothing more sinister than a randomly selected photograph.

"The WeChat operator has found the application will not cause any loss but actually simply shows random photos of cute children to the users," Tencent said yesterday.

This comes at a time when the company says it has enhanced its anti-malware provisions and introduced measures to tackle scams and spam.

Some corporate WeChat accounts encourage users to enter lucky draws, but some links lead to sites where users are asked to enter personal information that can then be used by criminals.

WeChat has urged account holders not to reveal personal information on sites they do not know.

Spam in general has become a nuisance for many users, and Tencent said corporate WeChat accounts will be shut down if they continue sending spam after a fourth warning.

Tencent said each day it removes an average of 10 million spam links.

Last month, Tencent said it may limit each WeChat user to 5,000 contacts to stop the spread of spam.

According to Xinhua news agency, WeChat users reached 600 million worldwide last October.