An erroneous Financial Times article on Friday set off an avalanche of panic (again!) after reporting that Greek banks are preparing contingency plans for a possible “bail-in” of deposits due to fear that the country is heading towards financial collapse. The article said that at least one bank was making plans for the “haircut” of at least 30% of deposits more than 8,000 euros. No sooner was this report released that Reuters reported that the FT article was “completely baseless” according to the head of Greece’s Banking Association.

The report that didn’t name specific sources came two days ahead of a crucial referendum where Greeks are expected to accept or reject crushing austerity measures set by international creditors and that could send Greece on a collision course with its euro zone partners. Ultimately, the vote may determine Greece’s future in the euro zone, according to statements by top EU officials aimed at swaying voters to think twice before rejecting the tough terms.

The Greek Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) government has doggedly dismissed the possibility of a “bail-in”, but then again, they had also said that capital controls would not have been put in place. Former socialist PASOK minister Louka Katseli, who chairs the Greek Banking Association, said that the raid on deposits belong “only in the sphere of fantasy.” “There are no such scenarios at any Greek bank, not even as an exercise on paper!”

SYRIZA Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said that the scenario painted by the FT regarding a “bail-in” that could resemble the rescue plan agreed by Cyprus in 2013 where customers’ funds were seized to shore up the banks was nothing more than a “malicious rumor”. The Ministry of Finance categorically denied the validity of the reportage and called on the FT to publish a retraction.