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The beginning of the year was rife with news about U.S.-Iran political conflict and possible military action. As if that’s not scary enough, some people have reported receiving text messages from the U.S. Army saying that they’ve been drafted.
Things are still up in the air, re: U.S. and Iran, but the U.S. Army officially wants you to ignore these fake texts. Phew!
Buzzfeed News spoke to U.S. Army Recruiting Command (USARC) media relations chief Lisa Ferguson, who says,
““We had phone calls from parents, and our recruiters let us know they were hearing from people who’d received these texts.”
The U.S. Army took to social media to allay public fear.
Just as a reminder, these days U.S. Army is formed of volunteers; a draft has not been a part of the U.S. military’s recruitment process for decades. Though men are required to provide eligibility information to the Selective Service, that doesn’t mean they’ve enlisted to the army.
The Selective Service also tweeted that Congress must pass a law authorizing a draft, which the president must then sign in order for anyone to be drafted.
This didn’t stop some people from sharing jokes and memes about a potential draft on social media.
As a reference, the fraudulent texts look like this:
Photo Credit: US Army Recruiting Command
The US Army Recruiting Command explains that the draft hasn’t been in effect since 1973, so anyone who receives the text is likely the victim of a scam or bot.
What say you about this latest attempt to scare the public? Feel free to share your opinion with us in the comments.
