*Walmart says an “external bad actor” is responsible for a number of fake accounts that generated emails using the company’s domain that addressed recipients with a racial slur.
According to CBS News, those behind the attack created new accounts for people whose emails were not previously identified by the company as belonging to Walmart customers, automatically sending a “Welcome to Walmart, N**ger” email. The company’s internal systems were not breached, and the retailer said it was able to stop more of the emails from being sent.
“We discovered that an external bad actor created false Walmart accounts with obvious intent to offend our customers. We were shocked and appalled to see these offensive and unacceptable emails. We’re looking into our sign-up process to ensure something like this doesn’t happen again. We’re also looking into all available means to hold those responsible accountable,” a Walmart spokesperson said in an email to CBS MoneyWatch.
Folks flooded social media to complain about the racist emails from the address “[email protected].”
“Woke up this morning to this email in my inbox,” wrote Twitter user @Mercede30438313 in a tweet that also showed a screenshot of the offensive email.
Woke up this morning to this email in my inbox.
Somebody set up a #Walmart account using my email address with the first and last name N****r C**n.
Surely Walmart should have something that flags such words?#BlackLivesMatter #RARSutton#nospaceforhate#stophateUK #racism pic.twitter.com/voAMqS1r8l
— Messssco #FBPE ????️???????????????????????????? (@Mercede30438313) May 24, 2021
Watch a report about the incident below:
