The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has ordered a company to immediately stop its widespread scam robocalls impersonating Walmart employees that have impacted millions of customers.
The Federal Communications Commission says a wave of prerecorded calls – featuring an artificial voice claiming to be “Emma” or “Carl from Walmart” – has flooded phones across the country.
The scam tells recipients that their Walmart account has been charged for a PlayStation 5 “Special Edition” purchase worth $919.45. The message urged people to “press 1” to cancel their order.
Callers who “press 1” or call back the number will be connected to a live operator who will ask for personally identifiable information, including a Social Security number.
“It is illegal for scammers and thieves to use our phone networks to defraud consumers or steal personal data, and voice service providers must be part of the solution,” FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in a statement. “While most providers understand this responsibility, we will not tolerate those who turn a blind eye and allow suspicious robocallers onto their networks.”
The FCC has asked US voice service provider SK Teleco to stop handling these robocalls.
Cord Cutters News reports that if the company does not comply, it will be cut off from U.S. communications networks, which could “effectively isolate the company from the nation’s communications networks, a penalty that has only been imposed a few times in the FCC’s history.”
The FCC estimates that recipients placed nearly 8 million illegal robocalls related to this scam.
The agency said SK Teleco was notified of the robocalls but did not respond. The company has 14 days as of December 2 to take steps to prevent the traffic from reappearing on its network.
Walmart shoppers can click here to learn more about steps to take against this scam.
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