GTA 5: Free Grand Theft Auto download leads to wave of hackers and online cheaters

Opportunistic hackers are reportedly trapping players in cages and building giant robots out of tanks

An influx of new Grand Theft Auto V players has led to complaints about hackers in the hit crime video game.

Grand Theft Auto V has been available to download for free on the Epic Games Store for almost a week. When the giveaway was announced, some Reddit users correctly predicted that the move would see a rise in the amount of hackers in the game.

PC users with enough technical expertise are able to alter, or "mod" the game's code to add in new elements, weapons or visual effects.

Public lobbies have been disrupted as hackers have done things such as flood the game with hundreds of aeroplanes, crash the servers, and trap other players in cages.

Grand Theft Auto V creators Rockstar doesn't allow hacking on the game's popular online mode, but the Epic Games Store offer has seemingly provided banned players a means of re-entering the game under a different guise.

One Reddit user posted a picture of a vehicle that a hacker had inserted into the game, a gigantic Transformers-like robot made of tanks.

"I guess no one cares about getting banned anymore," wrote the player.

It is believed that the problem is only short-term; once the free download offer expires, the game's moderators will be more effectively able to remove and ban disruptive players from the online mode.