Apparently, scammers know no limits. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr took to social media this week to issue a fraud alert regarding a military draft.
Carr posted: “Scammers often prey on victims when their emotions are heightened. Please be mindful that unsolicited texts claiming to be from U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) or U.S. Army recruiters are part of a scam making its rounds this week.”
The state’s Attorney General made reference to a fraud alert being distributed by Fort Gordon, which said a number of text messages had been sent out nationwide telling individuals that they had been selected for a military draft. The text messages started circulating this week.
The alert by Fort Gordon said, “This is a fake text message. US Army Recruiting Command (USAREC) wants to ensure Americans know that these texts are false.”
Officials reminded the public that the United States military has been an all-volunteer force since 1973 and in the event that a national emergency necessitates a draft, Congress would have to pass a measure to bring it back and the President would need to sign it into law to reinstate the draft. Officials also pointed out the texts contain a number of grammatical errors, which are a red flag to the fraud.
Also this week, the Selective Service System’s website crashed — the day after a U.S. airstrike took out Iran’s top military commander, General Qassem Soleimani.
Military.com reported that people apparently flooded the Selective Service’s website to see if they had registered for the draft, causing the site to crash.
“Due to the spread of misinformation, our website is experiencing high traffic volumes at this time. If you are attempting to register or verify registration, please check back later today as we are working to resolve this issue,” the Selective Service tweeted. “We appreciate your patience.”
According to Fort Gordon, Army recruiting operations are proceeding as normal. All U.S. males between the ages of 18 and 25 are required by law to register for the Selective Service. Failing to do so comes with lifelong penalties, such as a prohibition from getting federal jobs and ineligibility for some student loans.
