SCAMS BULLETIN Host Jay White is a volunteer attorney who provides free legal services for low income seniors in San Mateo County, California.

August 3, 2019

CENSUS INTERVIEW FRAUD

April 1, 2020 is Census Day — the due date for Americans to take part in the decennial national headcount. Until then, and possibly beyond, you’ll probably hear a lot about, and a lot from, the U.S. Census Bureau. It is also opportunity time for census interview fraud.

Census scammers contact you by phone, email, regular mail or home visit, or direct you to phony websites, seeking personal and financial information. They have the added advantage of pretending to represent an agency specifically tasked with asking questions.

To verify that a phone survey is legitimate call the National Processing Center at 800-523-3205, 800-642-0469 or 800-877-8339 (TDD/TTY).

There are some warning things to look for that no legitimate census agent will ask — for example, your Social Security, credit card or bank account number. Legitimate census takers won’t ask when you leave for or return from work. They won’t ask for money. They won’t threaten jail time if you don’t answer their questions.

Be especially watchful for impostors in early and mid-spring of 2020, when the actual Census Bureau will be sending out reminders to fill out your form. There may be agent following up in person at households that don’t respond.

Other Warning Signs:

You get an unsolicited email purporting to be from the Census Bureau.

A phony census agent asks you for money or financial data, such as the number of and amount in your bank account.

A phony census taker threatens you with arrest. Although taking part in the Census is required by law and you can be fined for not doing so, you can’t be imprisoned.

Do’s:

Do verify that a census taker who comes to your home is legitimate. They should have a Census Bureau photo ID badge (with a Department of Commerce watermark and an expiration date) and a copy of the letter the bureau sent you. You can also search for an agent’s name in the Census Bureau’s online staff directory.

Do confirm that a questionnaire you’ve received is on the Census Bureau’s official list of household or business surveys.

Do contact the bureau’s National Processing Center or the regional office for your state to verify that an American Community Survey or other census communication is genuine.

Do check that a census mailing has a return address of Jeffersonville, Ind., the site of the National Processing Center. If it’s from somewhere else, it’s not from the Census Bureau.

Attb: AARP