A rumor that circulated on social media in January 2026 claimed opening a text message about the supposed "arrest" of U.S. President Donald Trump would attack users' bank accounts.
Users on Facebook (archived), Instagram (archived), Threads (archived) and X (archived) copied and pasted a warning reading, "FYI... Just sharing, if you get a text that trump was arrested don't open it because it will attack your bank account. Tell all your friends. Too much going on! Please forward to family and friends! Really sickening." Snopes has received numerous reader inquiries about the warning over time.
In short, the warning was a hoax. Snopes did not locate screenshots or transcripts of the alleged text message when the warning started circulating in November 2024, nor could we determine who started the rumor.
It circulated shortly after Trump was indicted on charges related to election inference in the 2020 presidential election and around the time voters elected him to a second term.
Similarly, in 2016, we reported on another hoax that falsely claimed a virus would infect people's devices when they click on a photo supposedly showing Trump's "arrest."
Online searches — including of Reddit's r/Scams community — produced no credible discussions about the purported scam.
What to know about text scams
Despite what some users claimed, consumers can't get scammed simply by opening and reading a text message. For a scam to succeed, scammers typically need recipients to respond to a message or click on a link.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published a full guide on text message scams, primarily that scammers attempt to steal consumers' personal and financial information. If any readers provided personal or financial details to scammers, we recommend reporting the text messages to the FTC using the instructions at the bottom of their guide. Additionally, we advise contacting the associated bank or credit card company — either by visiting a branch or calling an official number (not one provided in the scam text) — to address the issue.
If readers find additional details on the purported "Trump arrested" scam text message, please reach out to us.