Someone went through great lengths to publish a fake report about Twitter, registering and creating the website "Bloomberg.market," a near replica of Bloomberg.com. The fake website reported Twitter received "an offer to be bought out for $31 billion" and was "working closely with bankers." The website cited "people with knowledge of the situation."
Bloomberg employees were quick to point out the website was a fake:
THIS IS A FAKE STORY. NOT http://t.co/dHQPlawbb0 --> http://t.co/jMmXE2QU5e
— Joe Weisenthal (@TheStalwart) July 14, 2015
(A well done hoax, but a hoax nonetheless)
But Twitter's stock had already been affected:
Impact of this $TWTR fake story. http://t.co/Rw7n2AyctD pic.twitter.com/Bc5K260jBb
— Nicole Sherrod (@TDANSherrod) July 14, 2015Spoof Bloomberg website claims Twitter is in takeover talks http://t.co/KAO3c6wf3X and does this to share price. pic.twitter.com/lkEONZspnc
— Jim Waterson (@jimwaterson) July 14, 2015
No one has come forward to claim responsibility for the website. The first mention of the report on Twitter came from Open Outcrier, which describes itself as an account tweeting about "real-time stock [and] option trading headlines, breaking news, rumors and strategy."
$TWTR more chatter http://t.co/kC98OdU2Zu
— Open Outcrier (@OpenOutcrier) July 14, 2015
Ty Trippet, Bloomberg spokesman, confirmed the story is a fake.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Polly Mosendz is a breaking news reporter for Newsweek. She was previously a staff writer for The Wire and associate ... Read more
