FCC Demands Cessation of Walmart-Impersonation Robocalls

‘Emma’ Calling ‘from Walmart’ to Confirm a PlayStation Purchase Instead Seeks Consumers’ Personal Information WASHINGTON — The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau has demanded that SK Teleco, the voice service provider apparently transmitting scam robocalls impersonating Walmart employees, immediately cease-and-desist processing these calls. If it fails to take action to permanently prevent this traffic and similar scam calls from traversing its networks, SK Teleco risks being cut off from U.S. communications networks. During this scam robocall campaign, an artificial voice identifying itself as “Emma” or “Carl” calls “from Walmart” stating: “A preauthorized purchase of PlayStation 5 special edition with pulse 3D headset is being ordered from your Walmart account for an amount of $919.45. To cancel your order or to connect with one of our customer support representatives, please press 1.” Call recipients who press 1 or call back are connected to live operators who request personally identifiable information, including social security numbers. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr issued the following statement: “Scammers and thieves using our phone networks to defraud consumers or steal personal data is illegal and voice service providers must be part of the solution. While most providers understand this responsibility, we won’t tolerate those that turn a blind eye and allow shady robocallers on their networks.” Additional Background: The FCC-sanctioned Industry Traceback Group traced the sources of twenty-nine apparently illegal robocalls placed to wireless numbers between January 21, 2025 and April 11, 2025. In total, YouMail estimates that nearly 8 million robocalls related to this campaign were placed to call recipients. The Industry Traceback Group notified SK Teleco of the apparently illegal robocall traffic, including providing data identifying the calls and directing the company to investigate the suspected traffic. The company did not respond. It is unlawful to place calls to cellphones containing artificial or prerecorded voice messages absent an emergency purpose or prior express consent. SK Teleco did not provide proof of consent and, given the apparent fraudulent nature of the calls, it is unlikely they would have such evidence. If SK Teleco fails to take swift action to prevent scam calls, the FCC will require all other providers to no longer accept call traffic from SK Teleco. SK Teleco has 48 hours to effectively mitigate illegal traffic and 14 days to take steps to prevent a reoccurrence of such traffic on their network.