Mumbai, Feb 20: An unidentified individual allegedly impersonated Macleods Pharmaceuticals Limited and sent fake emails to the company’s customers through Telegram and email, providing false information.
The company has filed a complaint with the MIDC Police Station, alleging that the accused attempted to defame the company and tarnish its image in the market.
Based on the complaint, the MIDC police registered an FIR against an unidentified person on February 19 under Section 318(2) (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the Information Technology Act.
Fake emails sent to employees and customers
According to the FIR, Macleods Pharmaceuticals Limited is located in Andheri East and is engaged in the manufacture and sale of medicines. Vijay Agarwal is one of the company’s directors. On behalf of the company, Deputy General Manager Santosh Survase, 41, filed the complaint with the police.
On February 13, an employee named Shiva S.R. received an email from the ID hashimoto@vetinc.jp. The email contained a forged document titled “CEW 2026 Leave Compliance Report” and prompted the recipient to click on the attachment. Before this, several other employees had received suspicious emails from different email IDs that mentioned the company’s name.
On January 3, another employee, Abhinav Dere, received an email from macleodsfarma@aquamarinetravels.com, in which the sender attached a scanned document and asked him to click on it. On February 16, employee Dinesh Mule also received a fake email, and another employee received a similar email the following day.
Fake job offer and financial loss
In another instance, Shreenivas Jadhav received an email in the name of Macleods Pharmaceuticals Limited offering a job. Mule later transferred Rs 4,500 to a Karnataka Bank account provided by the sender. The company clarified that it had never sent Mule any email or job offer.
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The company later realised that unknown persons had been sending fake emails to customers and other individuals in an attempt to tarnish the company’s image and defame it. These emails were reportedly sent between October 2024 and February 2026.
Police register FIR, probe underway
Following the complaint, the police registered a case and launched an investigation.
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