Walmart blames an “external bad actor” for racist emails that were sent under the Walmart brand name.
An email sent from the company's help@walmart.com address said "Welcome to Walmart, N----" in the heading, and later in the greeting.
The email features the Walmart logo, and has a notice about the retailer’s COVID-19 policy.
The offending email created a backlash, and many recipients posted screenshots of it on Twitter.
In a statement to Reuters, Walmart said: "We discovered that an external bad actor created false Walmart accounts with obvious intent to offend our customers.” It is blocking the emails.
Walmart added that it was "shocked and appalled," and is seeking to hold the perpetrators accountable. It said its system was not hacked.