Fed’s Powell Tricked By Fake Call From Russia Pranksters

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was tricked into an extended phone call in January with Russian pranksters posing as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which Powell appeared to discuss the impact of interest rate hikes.

Videos of the phone call have been posted on social media.

In one clip, Powell says a “recession is almost as likely as very slow growth” this year.

Powell has said before that the Fed’s rapid series of rate hikes would slow the economy and even potentially cause a recession.

A Fed spokesperson would not say whether the phone call demonstrated that the Fed faces security lapses or what steps would be taken to try to prevent it from occurring again.