A NEW instant messaging tool — Bullet Messager — suffered a spam attack over the weekend, said developer Kuairu Technology.

Bullet Messager has quickly become the most-downloaded free offering on Apple’s App Store in China, according to data from app analytics firm App Annie. Bullet automatically generates transcriptions of spoken messages, and an audio clip is attached to each message that allows users to listen and check for accuracy.

Some insiders are suggesting that Bullet Messager could be a potential rival to popular social networking app WeChat.

The developer, which Beijing-based smartphone maker Smartisan Technology has invested in, said it received a coordinated, mass spam message Saturday and Sunday 493,161 messages respectively, or 26 times and 21 times the amount processed Aug. 31.

Kuairu Technology said it took 50 hours to curb the spread of the spam messages, which were mainly advertisements for consumer goods, gambling and pornography with false website links.

The spam messages did not link to a specific target website, suggesting it was a purely malicious attack without direct commercial appeal, the company said.   (China News Service)