Fed’s Jerome Powell tricked by fake call from Russia pranksters posing as Ukraine’s president
- Video shows Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaking to who he thought was Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky
- The pranksters – Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov – have for years succeeded in tricking foreign politicians
US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was tricked into an extended phone call in January with Russian pranksters posing as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during which Powell appeared to discuss the economic 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 in the past year would slow the economy and even potentially cause a recession.
A spokesperson for the Federal Reserve said “the video appears to have been edited, and I cannot confirm it is accurate”.
“Chair Powell participated in a conversation in January with someone who misrepresented himself as the Ukrainian president,” the spokesperson said. “It was a friendly conversation and took place in a context of our standing in support of the Ukrainian people in this challenging time. No sensitive or confidential information was discussed.”
The spokesperson would not say whether the call demonstrated that the Fed faces security lapses or what steps would be taken to try to prevent it from occurring again.
“The matter has been referred to appropriate law enforcement, and out of respect for their efforts we won’t be commenting further,” the spokesperson said.