Friday, April 20, 2012

Bank of America's embarrassing fake website

A band of merry pranksters who call themselves the Yes Men posted a fake Bank of America website that ridiculed the second-largest financial institution.

The website, http://yourbofa.com/#, fooled the Dow Jones Newswire for a few hours until it posted a correction.

The website features a message from CEO Brian Moynihan saying,
Today, it's time to acknowledge that our Bank isn't working anymore—not just for the market, but for people, our real customers. We've paid $8.58 billion in relief to borrowers and $3.24 billion in fines. We face lawsuits and claims from citizens, companies, and state and local governments. There is even a petition with the Federal Reserve to break up our bank, adding yet more uncertainty to our position. Finally, we've found ourselves front-and-center in the national foreclosure crisis... 
The website can't be making the troubled bank happy. It has a section where readers can post suggestions for improving the bank. According to The Huffington Post, some suggestions are more constructive than others:
"I want my bank to lay out all potential charges on my card usage and accounts to be in a clear and understandable term sheet before any charges are incurred," one comment stated. 
"Banks need to offer investment opportunities that focus on local needs and small businesses," another stated. 
"I would like you to feature a photo of Brian Moynihan with his head up his ass!" declared a third.
The website looks almost exactly like the bank's real website, with the same soothing corporate tone.

The Yes Men say their mission is to impersonate big-time criminals in order to publicly humiliate them.
Our targets are leaders and big corporations who put profits ahead of everything else.
Sounds like a plan.