The US Army Says Military Draft Texts Are Fake

Throughout the week, US citizens have been receiving fraudulent text messages saying that they have been selected for a military draft.

Notably, the messages tell people that they need to come to the nearest Army recruiting branch “for immediate departure to Iran.” Some even claimed that the person would be “fined and sent to jail for a minimum 6 years” in case if there’s no reply.

The US Army Recruiting Command issued a statement on their official website that says:

U.S. Army Recruiting Command has received multiple calls and emails about these fake text messages and wants to ensure Americans understand these texts are false and were not initiated by this command or the U.S. Army.

The Command also informs that the recipients of fake messages should either ignore or delete them.

In fact, the US Army Recruiting Command cannot make a decision to enact a draft. The Selective Service Administration can initiate it, and Congress and the President will need to pass official legislation to approve it. What is more, the draft was last used in the 1970s, so no one can be forced to join the military right now as it is volunteer, let alone being instructed over a text message.

So far, Army security officials have not found the purpose or source of these messages and are still figuring out their origin.

A text scam is being sent while the country experiences an ongoing tension with Iran after the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.