B of A Spoof Web Site Claims Bank "Isn't Working Anymore"

As if Bank of America (BAC) doesn't have enough to deal with, a spoof Web site popped up Wednesday and published a fake letter from Chief Executive Brian Moynihan claiming the bank "isn't working anymore."

Within hours, visitors to "yourbofa.com" found an error message stating the site was a "web forgery" designed "to trick you into revealing personal or financial information by imitating sources you may trust."

B of A spokesman Scott Silvestri said yourbofa.com was "not affiliated with the company," but he would not comment on whether the bank was responsible for the site now being blocked.

The Wall Street Journal reported on the fake Web site on Wednesday, but its affiliated publication, Dow Jones Newswires, was also a victim of the spoof. The wire service "mistakenly published the fake press release and a headline about the release around 9:15 a.m. EDT Wednesday," according to a followup Dow Jones story.

The Journal reported that the Web site "bears all the hallmarks of the recent Occupy protests against the bank," though a person who claimed to work for the "newly formed company called yourbofa.com" denied affiliation with Occupy Wall Street or other activist groups, including Codepink and Women Occupy.

The spoof Web site took issue with B of A for "funding coal and for not paying taxes in 2010, a year it lost money," and included "several snide remarks about mortgages," the Journal said.

In March, several women interrupted Moynihan during an investor in New York by shouting "Bust Up Bank of America!" Several women removed their shirts and yelled: "It's International Women's Day."