Members of a group of computer enthusiasts and hackers deny that they are about take down Facebook and the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Last week, someone opened a YouTube channel under the name Anonymous Operation and announced a hacker attack on the Toronto Stock Exchange for Nov. 7.

The YouTube channel linked to the home website of Anonymous, which has close ties to the Occupy movement around the world.

A number of Anonymous members found in an online chatroom on Thursday morning dismissed the threat on the TSX as a hoax. They also said that a rumoured takedown of Facebook on Nov. 5 was also not true.

“We are nice people,” wrote one member in the predictably anonymous chatroom.

Chatroom participants were far more interested in the successes of the Occupy movement, which includes protesters in Toronto’s St. James Park.

The movement highlighted a small breakthrough on Wednesday, after successfully pressuring the U.S. Bank in Minnesota to save a family from mortgage foreclosure on their home.

Anonymous also sponsors ongoing online pressure campaigns, such as Occupy the Board Room, where people are encouraged to email their personal stories to “pen pals” and “best friends forever” in executive suites at major American financial institutions.

“The internet is mainly a good tool to spark a public debate,” wrote one member, who said Anonymous membership is too fluid and diverse to amount to a threat on any organization.

They also say they don’t have the computing clout to overpower fortress-like defenses at the TSX or Facebook.

Like the Occupy movement itself, Anonymous is “very very organic,” said one member.

The Toronto Stock Exchange did not respond to a request for comment.

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