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Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times Opinion columnist Paul Krugman
- New York Times columnist Paul Krugman tweeted Wednesday that he received a phone call indicating that hackers downloaded child pornography on his WiFi network.
- Krugman later said he realized that the phone call, which he thought was coming from his "computer security service," was likely a scam.
- The incident appears to be a case of phishing, wherein scammers pose as an authority or service provider in order to trick people into disclosing personal information.
- Cybersecurity experts say phishing is a rising threat, but that it's largely preventable.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Paul Krugman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist and columnist for the New York Times, took to Twitter Wednesday to share some alarming news.
Transform talent with learning that worksCapability development is critical for businesses who want to push the envelope of innovation.Discover how business leaders are strategizing around building talent capabilities and empowering employee transformation.Know More "Well, I'm on the phone with my computer security service, and as I understand it someone compromised my IP address and is using it to download child pornography," Krugman said in a since-deleted tweet.
The tweet drew baffled responses from Twitter users, many of whom pointed out that an IP address isn't a device or system that can be compromised - it's just a number that identifies a computer on a WiFi network.
Krugman later said that, after his colleagues at the Times looked into the issue, he realized the phone call was likely a scam. A spokesperson for the Times did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The incident appears to be an example of a phishing scam, in which scammers pose as an authority or service provider (like a computer security service) to scare their victims into handing over personal information.
Here's everything you need to know about phishing scams and how you can avoid them.