News release service Business Wire said a fake press release about Javelin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (JAV) which was published on its service Friday night has been reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Business Wire Chief Executive Cathy Tamraz said her firm referred the case to the New York bureau of the FBI, and it is being treated as a "criminal investigation."

The fake Javelin release comes just days after another hoax release involving cereal maker General Mills Inc. (GIS) was published by another press release service, PR Newswire. Both release were retracted by the press release services before regular U.S. trading began in both stocks. FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said the FBI is "aware" of the fraudulent press releases.

The two incidents highlight the pressures that public companies and news release services face in managing communications at a time when electronic messages and email addresses can be faked.

Javelin Pharmaceuticals Monday morning announced that on June 18 Business Wire inadvertently issued a hoax press release titled "US Supreme Court split -- rules in favor of Big Pharma" that falsely identified Javelin Pharmaceuticals as the issuer of the information. The information in the hoax release was false, Javelin's statement said.

A Javelin spokesman couldn't immediately be reached. Shares of Javelin--which is in the process of being acquired by Hospira Inc. (HSP)--were recently flat at $1.42.

Business Wire received the hoax release from an unknown third party purporting to be an authorized representative of the company, Javelin's statement said. Dow Jones Newswires, Bloomberg and ThomsonReuters did not publish the hoax release.

News Corp. owns Dow Jones & Co., publisher of this newswire, and The Wall Street Journal.

In a similar hoax last Wednesday, a fake release about cereal maker General Mills falsely stated U.S. President Barack Obama had ordered an investigation into the cereal maker's supply chain. General Mills said last week that "law enforcement" is involved in investigating the false press release but didn't comment further on the investigation Monday.

There has been no official disclosure either from law enforcement agencies or the companies about who may have put out the releases or if they are connected. The phone numbers at the bottom of both hoax releases were the same and had a New Zealand dialing code.

A man answered that phone number last week and Monday but gave different names each time. The person on the phone appeared to be the same both times, but Dow Jones was not able to independently confirm his identity, the veracity of his statements or that he was the originator of the releases.

The person answering the phone said Monday that he had been involved in putting out both releases. He said he had no investments in either stock, wasn't connected to either General Mills or Javelin and wasn't linked in any way to the press release services. Last week, after the General Mills hoax, he said the purpose had been to discredit the U.S. president. On Monday, after the Javelin hoax, he said the purpose was to put pressure on the news release services to "change their systems and practices."

General Mills declined to comment and Javelin couldn't be reached.

The two news release services say they have vetting processes in place to confirm that a press release has indeed come from the company in question. It is unclear how the hoaxes got through those systems. Business Wire's Tamraz declined to comment on how exactly the Javelin release got through, saying only that it was a case of "stolen identity."

In a statement Monday, Business Wire said it will no longer accept client releases submitted via e-mail. The elimination of e-mail was scheduled to be part of a planned security upgrade this August, Business Wire said, adding that the Javelin incident advanced the timetable for the change. Business Wire's statement said all press releases must now be submitted via BW Connect, its proprietary electronic system that has been in operation since 1998 without breaches.

PR Newswire didn't immediately comment on whether it will be changing its vetting processes in response to the recent events.

Michele Clarke, managing director of Brainerd Communicators, said fake press releases aren't new in the public relations game, and she hasn't noticed an increase in their frequency. "Information has been electronic for a long time, and digital information can be altered, which increases the need for security and verification," said Clarke, who is not directly connected with either Business Wire or PR Newswire. "The rise of digital communications has brought an increased need for security and verification, and that is happening."

(Jeff Gruber contributed to this article)

-By Anjali Cordeiro, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2200; anjali.cordeiro@dowjones.com
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