Walmart apologizes for sending racist emails after someone created false accounts, and says it's beefing up security

• Walmart plans to beef up security of its customer sign-up process after someone created accounts using racist slurs.
• A spokesperson said customers are currently not required to verify their email addresses when signing up.
• This makes it easier to set up new false accounts.

Walmart said Tuesday that it will beef up security of its customer sign-up process online after someone set up dozens of accounts using racist slurs.

The Arkansas-based company faced dozens of complaints on social media on Monday after some people received "Welcome to Walmart" emails containing the racial slurs.

A Walmart spokesperson told Insider Tuesday said that the company was investigating the incident and had contacted the individuals impacted to apologize and confirm that the new accounts would be deleted. The spokesperson said Walmart does not know who is responsible for the incident, but said it was not an employee and that its website was not hacked.

The spokesperson also said that Walmart is working to change its sign-up process for new customers to prevent a similar incident from happening again. Under the current system, new customers must complete a CAPTCHA test to ensure they are not bots, but they do not need to verify their email addresses.

Rachael Campbell, who was one of many to receive the racist email on Monday, said she received an apology from Walmart Tuesday morning.

The email, which was signed by Walmart's chief customer officer Janey Whiteside and reviewed by Insider, said that Walmart was "looking into all available means to hold those responsible accountable."