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Mark Carney falls victim to a hoax

For weeks now, an email hoaxer has been trying to catch bank officials out online. After the prankster tricked Barclays boss Jes Staley, they set their sights on a new target: the governor of the Bank of England.

Claiming to be Anthony Habgood, chairman of the court of the Bank of England, the hoaxer emailed Mark Carney about reports that Jane Austen would appear on the new £10 banknote, before getting into a conversation about drinking. While Carney did suggest that he was partial to Eddie George’s drinking advice (to have three martinis …before lunch), he can hold his head up high that he shut down the conversation once it took on a somewhat sexist tone:

From: Anthony Habgood
Sent: Monday 22 May, 09:56
To: Mark Carney

Subject: I see reports of Jane Austen in the papers today
Apparently her face resembles that of someone who’s had a ‘bracing martini’.

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