I was deceived. I don’t really know how it happened, but around $50 was taken out of my bank account for supposed services that I didn’t approve or see. Long story short, I had to block my card, but in the end, the bank reimbursed me.
But not every scam has a happy ending. And today, more people are being cheated than ever before.
In fact, 73 percent of U.S. adults say they’ve experienced at least one online scam or attack, and most receive scam calls, texts and emails at least weekly, according to a 2025 Pew Research Center survey.
“Online scams and other Internet crimes are skyrocketing, with a record $16.6 billion in losses reported to the FBI in 2024. The federal government, banks and businesses are all sounding the alarm,” the Pew report said.
A number of popular brands are often used by attackers to create phishing scams, and Walmart topped the list in the first quarter of 2023.
And so it is that Walmart has been targeted in the latest large-scale scam to garner attention from Washington.
The Federal Communications Commission’s Office of Enforcement has demanded that SK Teleco immediately cease and desist from a robocall scam impersonating Walmart employees. Image source: Shutterstock” loading=”eager” height=”540″ width=”960″ class=”yf-1gfnohs loader”/>
The Federal Communications Commission’s Office of Enforcement has demanded that SK Teleco immediately cease and desist from a robocall scam impersonating Walmart employees. Image source: Shutterstock
On December 2, the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Office of Enforcement requested that SK Teleco, the voice service provider, immediately stop robocall scams impersonating Walmart employees.
If the company doesn’t take steps to permanently prevent this and similar scam calls from traversing its networks, it risks being cut off from U.S. communications networks, according to the FCC’s press release.
According to the FCC report, the scam was based on AI voices identifying themselves as “Carl” or “Emma”, calling “from Walmart” and claiming that there was a pre-authorized purchase of PlayStation 5 orders from a person’s Walmart account in the amount of $919.45.
The voice would still guide customers, asking them to press 1 or call back if they want to cancel the order or connect to live operators.
Once consumers are connected to live carriers, they would ask them for personally identifiable information such as social security numbers.
“Scammers and thieves who use our phone networks to defraud consumers or steal personal data are illegal, and voice service providers must be part of the solution. While most providers understand this responsibility, we will not tolerate those who turn a blind eye and allow shady robocallers to access their networks,” said FCC Chairman Brendan Carr.
The FCC cites data from industry watchdog Industry Traceback Group which tracked 29 robocalls to SK Telecom and third-party robocall blocking service YouMail, which estimates nearly 8 million robocalls were made.
The Industry Traceback Group has already notified SK Teleco of “illegal robocall traffic” and requested an investigation, but the company has not responded, the FCC said.
The Commission also notes that calling mobile phones and playing artificial or pre-recorded voice messages without reasonable urgency or prior consent is illegal.
Related: Google, Apple, Microsoft probed in crackdown on scam
“If SK Teleco fails to take prompt action to prevent scam calls, the FCC will require all other carriers to stop accepting call traffic from SK Teleco. SK Teleco has 48 hours to effectively reduce the illegal traffic and 14 days to take steps to prevent such traffic from reappearing on their network,” the FCC said.
“Such an order would effectively cut off the company from the national communications network, a penalty the FCC has imposed only a handful of times in its history,” writes Cord Cutters News.
“Walmart scams don’t actually come from Walmart or Walmart employees, but from scammers who use the company as a familiar disguise to trick their victims,” Robokiller writes, offering tips on how to spot the red flags.
According to the tech company, which offers a mobile app that uses artificial intelligence to block spam, robocalls and scam calls for consumers and businesses, there are several popular and dangerous Walmart scams.
Unsolicited communication
“Too good to be true,” he offers
Urgency and pressure
Requests for personal information or payments Source: Roboiller
Various threads on Reddit reveal similar scams, and user comments point to the same red flags. For example, a thread from 10 months ago describes how a supposed Walmart representative called them and said someone tried to buy a $1,000 computer on their account.
“When I asked them for their store number, they couldn’t answer the question. I was suspicious when they answered the first call because no Walmart I’ve ever called answers the phone instantly during peak hours. Beware of this scam,” user Safe-Assumption-1537 posted.
In the first half of 2023 alone, phone scams (including calls and texts) cost Americans $46 billion, according to Robokiller 2023 research.
Related: 5 Things You Should Know About Cyber Attacks in 2025
This story was originally published by TheStreet on December 3, 2025, where it first appeared in the Retail section. Add TheStreet as a favorite source by clicking here.
