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People accidentally adopted polar bears while donating #nomakeupselfie money

It seems a few rogue texts were to blame.

THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE in the UK accidentally donated money to the wrong charities while trying to take part in the #nomakeupselfie campaign.

The BBC reports that around £19,000 (€22,000) was donated to the likes of Unicef and the World Wildlife Fund by charitable individuals.

Mikle Flynn, director of individual giving at Unicef UK, described the situation as a “genuine mix-up”.

He said:

Unicef believes this error has occurred due to those interested in donating to the #nomakeupselfie campaign sharing the text keyword ‘DONATE’ – rather than the keyword ‘BEAT’ – and the text number 70099, which has then been repeated across social media

The charity is now working with Cancer Research UK to ensure that the funds are transferred to their intended destination.

The Huffington Post says donations also went awry when auto-correct kicked in and replaced the word ‘BEAT’ with ‘BEAR’.

Tweet by @Chris Kirk Chris Kirk / Twitter Chris Kirk / Twitter / Twitter

WWF UK was quick to respond, warning texters to be wary when attempting to donate.

They told Metro UK that they would also be ensuring that all funds intended for Cancer Research UK were transferred.

Meanwhile in Ireland, no adopted polar bears have been spotted but #nomakeupselfies have raised over €1 million for the Irish Cancer Society.

Even the lads have been getting in on the action, with the likes of Ray D’Arcy and Dáithí Ó Sé posting snaps and this NSFW effort hitting the internet.

Read: Daithi O’Se and Ray D’Arcy post ‘ready for Coppers’ make-up selfies>

More: There’s a male alternative to #NoMakeUpSelfie, and it’s completely NSFW>