Century Fasteners Corp. has received information about an ongoing fraud using the Century Fasteners name to purchase computer and computer networking equipment.

The fraud usually starts with the fraudster contacting the Sales Department via email using the name Brian Morris with an email address bmorris@century-fasteners.com. There is no Brian Morris and there has never been a Brian Morris affiliated with Century Fasteners Corp. In addition, our proper URL address is "@centuryfasteners.com", not "@century-fasteners.com". During more recent attacks, the fraudster has also used the names of legitimate current and former employees of Century Fasteners Corp., which has made it harder for companies to detect the fraud.

To help make the fraud seem even more plausible, the imposter is using a fraudulent Century Fasteners credit application that contains just enough legitimate information to make it seem real and a fraudulent Purchase Order that looks real, but is not. When the fraudster eventually gives a purchase order # and sends a P.O. hard copy, please be aware that these are not valid Century P.O.'s and will not be paid by Century Fasteners Corp. In most of these cases, the phone numbers stated are not real. We do not have any phone numbers associated with Century Fasteners Corp. that have a 206 area code.

Century Fasteners Corp. has set up a special internal audit group is to investigate this matter. The team is being led by Corporate Controller Jeffrey Lucher and Co-President Tom Brodsky. To date, Century's D&B account has been tagged with a fraud warning and the FBI has been contacted.

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ADVISORY INFORMATION IN THE EVENT OF SUSPICIOUS FRAUDULENT ACTIVITIES

Century Fasteners Corp. is proud of its reputation and record as a leader in the fastener distribution industry, with operations throughout the U.S and other countries. We are a private company that has been in business for over 57 years. Century takes very seriously any reports of suspicious or fraudulent activities involving the unauthorized use of its name.

You should be aware that fraudsters often create a sense of urgency to provoke you to take action immediately. First, consider carefully whether Century would have legitimately sent you the request. Second, ask questions -- if you are in doubt as to whether communications with a person purporting to act on behalf of Century are legitimate, do not respond to it. In any cases of uncertainty, a safe alternative is to contact Century directly as listed below. Remember, Century's URL is "@centuryfasteners.com" (NO DASH!).

Who to Contact to Report Suspicious Activities

If you receive an e-mail or any communication that you believe to be suspicious and connected to fraudulent activities, immediately forward it to jlucher@centuryfasteners.com (NO DASH!) and please call Jeffrey Lucher, Corporate Controller, at 718-446-5000. When forwarding an email, please do not remove the original subject line, or change the e-mail in any way. If we find it to be fraudulent, we will take appropriate action.