Promotional Fax Gets Mistaken For Bomb Threat

A faulty bank fax in Massachusetts printed a message that was misinterpreted as a bomb threat which lead authorities to evacuate more than a dozen neighboring businesses and a day care center.

The branch manager of the 'Bank of America' called police about 10 a.m. after receiving a fax containing images of a lit match and a bomb with a fuse.

But the fax got cut off before text explaining it was an internal bank promotion failed to transmit.

The missing text included the phrase "Small business commitment week June 4-8".

"The fax machine malfunctioned, so a partial image came through that looked somewhat suspicious", says bank spokesman Ernesto Anguilla.

Police said fears rose even more when the branch received a suspicious package delivered by a customer around the same time. A State Police bomb squad searched the bank branch and checked out the package, which was a delivery of documents.

Fifteen small businesses in a shopping plaza were evacuated for about three hours, including a day care center with around 30 children.

A copy of the promotional fax:

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