National Lottery Apologises After Vile Trolls Hijack Twitter Campaign

15 August 2017, 17:27 | Updated: 22 August 2017, 09:54

The National Lottery has issued an apology after its Twitter campaign was hijacked by cruel internet trolls.

Camelot gave social media user the opportunity to see their name on a board held up by British athletic stars.

However, the campaign soon backfired when users changed their names to offensive messages, which were subsequently shared on the official National Lottery feed.

The sick images included messages about the disappearance of Maddie McCann, Raoul Moat and Jimmy Savile, which were shared hundreds of times.

Soon realising their campaign had been hijacked, National Lottery issued a two-part statement apologising for the content.

It read: “We are aware that some people are maliciously targeting our British Athletics Twitter campaign with offensive and abhorrent content.

“We are dealing with this as quickly as possible and are hugely sorry for any offence caused by this malicious act.”

Earlier this year trolls seized upon a similar Walkers campaign which saw Gary Lineker holding up similarly offensive signs.

The manufacturer offered Twitter users the chance for selfies to appear alongside the Match of the Day host as part of a competition to win tickets for the Champions League final.

But, the marketing ploy soon failed as people sent a number of photos, including serial killer Harold Shipman and sex offender Rolf Harris which were automatically tweeted on to the Walkers account.