He then followed up, in a tweet, saying that the "Times thinks it may have been a scam. Anyway, will have more security in future."

Deleted original tweet. Times thinks it may have been a scam. Anyway, will have more security in future — Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) January 9, 2020

Even so, Krugman's allegations prompted a fierce backlash from social media, with many calling the economist's bluff from the get-go.



On Twitter, the skeptics used the likes of Dr. Evil, played by Mike Myers, in the Austin Powers film. And Paul Giamatti, from Showtime's Billions as well Will Ferrell's Ron Burgandy character.

Via American Action News: Yesterday was not Nobel laureate Paul Krugman's finest hour.The famous economist and New York Times columnist tweeted to his 4.6 million followers – before deleting – that someone compromised his IP address and used it to download child porn.Krugman pontificated in the deleted tweet that he could be a random target or a victim of right-wing trolls. Adding, "It's an ugly world out there."FOXBusiness' Suzanne O'Halloran reports:Krugman has targeted President Trump since his win against Democratic favorite Hillary Clinton. He famously wrote in a New York Times opinion piece that Trump's win would likely cause a recession.