The Army Has Issued A "Fact Check" Against Fake Draft Texts

People reported receiving text messages informing them that they had been drafted and must report for "immediate departure to Iran."

The US Army on Tuesday warned people about fraudulent text messages pretending to be an official draft notice.

Officials first found out about the texts on Monday, US Army Recruiting Command (USARC) media relations chief Lisa Ferguson told BuzzFeed News.

β€œWe had phone calls from parents, and our recruiters let us know they were hearing from people who’d received these texts,” she said.

In screenshots shared with BuzzFeed News, the texts state that the recipients have β€œbeen marked eligible” for the draft and β€œmust come to the nearest branch...for immediate departure to Iran.” The texts add that officials had tried to email the individual β€œseveral times" and they face jail time for not responding.

The texts in the screenshots appear to have been sent in the Florida and New Jersey areas.

β€œWe don’t have any way of knowing if some areas are receiving more texts than others unless we were to query all 1,400 recruiting stations and more than 10,000 recruiters,” Ferguson said.

A "fraud alert" on the USARC website clarified that the draft is actually the responsibility of the Selective Service System, which maintains a record of eligible people. Registering does not automatically enlist someone in the Army, which is an all-volunteer force.

Fact check: The U.S. Army is NOT contacting anyone regarding the draft. If you are receiving texts, phone calls or direct messages about a military draft, they are not official communications from the U.S. Army

The Selective Service System tweeted that it is β€œconducting business as usual” and that in the event of a national emergency, Congress and the president would need to pass official legislation to authorize a draft.

Gen. Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian commander, was killed in an airstrike by US forces last week. Since then, there has been a steady stream of memes, jokes, and TikToks about people getting drafted for a potential World War III.

Me meeting my homies in prison after we all refused the draft for WWIII

When the US government asks for my birth certificate so they can draft me for #WW3

There has also been misinformation spread about the killing of Soleimani and Iran’s missile strike on US bases in Iraq on Tuesday.

The USARC statement noted that a draft hasn't been in effect since 1973, when it was used for the Vietnam War.

The Selective Service System did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Skip to footer