A once famous user of Tencent's (0700.HK) QQ instant messaging software is calling foul over what he calls "Tencent's theivery", reports Hexun. According to the report, the user received his QQ account as a gift from Tencent during a celebrity-targeted promotional event in April, 2007, but recently discovered not only that his account password is incorrect, but that the account has been transferred to Hong Kong television personality Cao Jinghang.
According to a Tencent customer service representative, Tencent re-harvests free QQ accounts if users fail to login for three months, while paying users will lose their accounts after one month of non-payment. Tencent informs users that inactivity can result in the loss of their accounts in its terms of registration.