Is That Person At Your Door A Real Census Worker?
The Census is starting up again, and the Better Business Bureau wants to remind people to use reason and caution when answering the door. You're required by law to answer Census questions, but scammers may pose as legit Census workers and take advantage of the situation. "Law enforcement in several states have issued warnings that scammers are already posing as Census Bureau employees and knocking on doors asking for donations and Social Security numbers." Here's how to identify a real U.S. Census worker.
- They will have identification.
Real U.S. Census workers at your door will have all of the following:- a badge
- a handheld device
- a Census Bureau canvas bag
- a confidentiality notice
- They will only ask certain questions.
"Census workers are currently only knocking on doors to verify address information," notes the BBB. "Do not give your Social Security number, credit card or banking information to anyone, even if they claim they need it for the U.S. Census. While the Census Bureau might ask for basic financial information, such as a salary range, it will not ask for Social Security, bank account or credit card numbers nor will employees solicit donations."
- They will not use email. Eventually, Census workers may contact you by telephone, mail or in person at home. However, they will not contact you by e-mail, so be on the look out for e-mail scams impersonating the Census. Never click on a link or open any attachments in an e-mail that are supposedly from the U.S. Census Bureau.
- The males have a bright red stripe on their bottoms.
No, wait. That's something else entirely.
(Photo: Ol.v!er [H2vPk])
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Comments:
What a timely article, because just yesterday I was thinking about pretending to be a census worker, just for kicks and/or to meet chicks.
I think it's pretty amusing that I am supposed to make sure these people have a canvas bag with them..
I'm not sure why I think it is amusing..
Also make sure that there's no some bloke breaking into your house while we're giving census information. Unless you like the government robbing you blind.
I like the genericness of "handheld device"-- so I'm supposed to answer the door for a complete stranger holding a cell phone and a canvas bag? Good method to ID yourselves, guys, you may as well say "The person will be wearing a shirt and pants."
In terms of general security, I wouldn't fling my door wide open when answering it either...even if they're Census employees, you never know who has it in their mind that Census runs are a good way of scouting potential burglary locations. I tend to crack mine just enough to show half of myself, and none of what's behind me. Unless someone wants my wall clock, I can't imagine they'd see anything of value.
Do house plants and candy bars count on this census? How about my wife, she's a bobcat?
So, the person who came by last night and took those full-length nude photos of me wasn't a census worker?
I actually don't answer the door at all for random knocks. I only answer it if I know in advance that someone is coming over.
Someone approached my mother's house around a month or so ago and claimed to be from the census department. When my mother asked how she could help, the woman said all she needed to do was take a picture of the door. WHAT?! I tried to discern what that could possibly mean, and my mother reiterated for me; the alleged census worker did not want to ask any questions and only needed a photograph of the front door to the home. I couldn't imagine this being a census technique, but I also couldn't imagine it being a scamming technique either. What could this possibly mean?
You're required by law to answer Census questions.
You are not requred by law to answer the door.
I see ... so I am legally bound to tell some random person at my door what I make and whether I live alone and work full time (e.g., am out of my house from 9A -5P). Hmmm ... I suspect that I may not be entirely interested in providing that accurately.
Just remember that the GPS unit they are using is to let the SWAT teams know where to go. Also, since ZIP codes are actually bombing grid coordinates, this will allow the NWO to artillery your house easier.
And YES, these are things people actually believe/say on the radio.
@Canino: And then you get that awkward dance where it's possible the Census worker can hear you go to the door, and instead of it opening, they can then hear you shuffle away.
It's worth it, though, if I don't have to open the door and talk to strangers.
Instead of spending $14 billion to send out vagrants to take the census, why not give a few billion to the USPS to do it?
Can this census thing work in today's world of home invasions, identity theft, etc? It may have worked in 1791 or whenever they started it, but today I don't see it working.
@Canino:
No, but as a former Census worker and manager (I forget the formal position title), we are required by law to repeatedly visit your house, then get our manager to do so (let me tell you how much I loved to follow this up as the next in line up the chain) until you eventually are home and answer the door. If the homeowner never answers, we're supposed to extract information about you from your neighbors.
Really, there are some very nice, very honest people who work for the CB... and like anywhere else, there are those not so-awesome people too, but I like to think they're thinned out by the screening/application process.
@chucklebuck: Same here. I look through the peekhole and if it's not a friend or my neighbor, I just let my dog bark at them. Strangers only want money :)
@Chris Walters: i thought of the hitchhikers guide with the "don't Panic" on it. we're just here for some questions!
@pecan 3.14159265: Thats what I was thinking. Our company uses door collectors and they take pictures of the house to prove they were there. Maybe this one was too lazy to actually try to collect from her.
@Trencher93: Can this census thing work in today's world of rampant paranoia ?
Fixed. Not everyone that comes to your door is trying to do you harm; sometimes they're just taking the census.
@bbagdan:
Makes sense to me.
"Are you married?"
"Do you have any children?"
"What do you do for a living, and what is your salary?"
"What's your phone number?"
Just get a badge, a canvas bag, a handheld device of some sort, and print up a confidentiality statement, and you can get further than I can hitting on girls in bars.
@kduhtoe: Could she be confused in the difference between a property appraiser and census worker? Property field appraisers are known for taking photographs of real properties and buildings for their files. It's perfectly legal in most places as long as they don't cross a physical barrier (like a fence) or make overt gestures to intrude on privacy.
I personally have not been approached by a census worker. The last memory I have of one was driving through my neighborhood in her tiny Geo Metro getting confused by our ridiculous neighborhood layout. I got a chuckle, but I'm sure she was cursing up a storm trying to figure out where to go.
I've never opened the door for the Census. Then again, I'm never home or awake when they come by.
I'm sure there's probably an answer to this that I'm not thinking of, but here goes:
Couldn't the Census Bureau get all this info from the IRS? Your tax form asks how many people are in your home, and what you make, etc.
The tax info wouldn't give you an exact headcount since there are people don't pay taxes, but there's no way the Census can possibly count everyone either.
Couldn't the Census dept. team up with the IRS and ask all this stuff on the 1040? Seems like a good way to eliminate some waste.
@kduhtoe: The census guy just stood around on my porch for a minute. Didn't see if he took a picture. At this stage they just physically verify addresses, and only come back to ask questions if you don't submit the form send to said address. Kind of hilarious if the government is taking pictures of every front door in the country.
@WeAre138: I did not know that about door collectors. The problem is she doesn't have any debts, and the person simply stated they only wanted permission to take a picture of the front door for the census.
@pecan 3.14159265: Just yell through the door "I'm not interested in your cookies or religion. Go away."
I've read that census workers will be "verifying" whether there are additional living quarters in houses this time round. I'm not sure exactly what that means, but I assume it means they'll be coming in and looking around. This would make impersonating a census taker much more attractive than last time, when they just stood on the porch and asked questions.
Just ask them to spell "Census". That'll eliminated 85% of the scammers.
@thomamas: You are not required to let a census worker or anyone else into your home. Without a warrant.
@HasPonies!Envy_GitEmSteveDave: While this article is interesting it is not too timely and left a lot of wrong impressions. I was a part of the address verification part of the census and it was actually completed in our area about 2 weeks ago, after about 8 weeks of work. It could be that some areeas of the country are just getting started but in our part of Illinois we are all done.
Yes - easch census employee carried a badge, each employee also carried a black bag which had a large white block on it that indicated that the person was a census employee, they also carried a small handheld computer that was used to enter information into and it had a gps built in that was used to collect an address spot. The address spot was supposed to be collected within 10 feet of the front doorand that is probably what they were doing at kduhtoe's mothere house. We also had a confidentiality notice that we left at each home where we talked to someone.
The census workers will NOT ask for SSN, banking or credit card information, nor will they ask for account balances or any money. Should any of these things happen close the door immediately and call 911. DO not under any circumstances provide any of this information to them and for all the folks who read this and have elderly parents please make sure that they understand this.
What the census worker will ask you is if this is the correct mailing address, is it a single family or multi family unit. They should tell you that they are going to collect a gps spot as close to the front door as possible - they wanted us within 10 feet for that.
Remember - the actual census is next year. They are just trying to verify every address in the country this year in order to make sure that as many people as possible are counted. Keep in mind that many government programs and grants rely on population data when funding is determined. One other thing to remember is that only general data will be released from the census. Any individual data will be kept confidential and not released for 72 years.
@hellinmyeyes: It is definitely possible this was a property appraiser, and it is definitely possible my mother was confused.
The folks are moving to their retirement home and have had the property privately appraised. They recently received a notice from the county appraisal office as well though. I bet the "census worker" was a "county worker". Old people are hilarious.
@WeAre138: "For the last time, I don't want a copy of the Watchtower!"
@Jenni Davids: The funny thing about that tactic is that if they talk to neighbors who don't really know each other very well, they might end up with nothing anyway.
My neighbor doesn't know a thing about me other than basic things they may have culled from seeing my car in the driveway or seeing me once in a while. But if they're like other curious people, they might wonder certain things...so if the Census person knocks on their door, are they going to say, "I don't know much," and leave it at that, or are they going to add a "BUT" afterward, and tell the Census person about the one time they saw me pull into my driveway and get groceries out, and based on the kind of food I had, I must be a rich snob or a deadbeat junk food addict.
@redskull: Between credit bureaus, postal addresses, tax rolls, driver's licenses, property deeds, voter registrations, jury lists, and phone records the government knows exactly where everyone in this country is, except for those who have dropped out of society and shouldn't be counted anyway. But it's the government's job to waste money, so they pretend to count anyway.
@kduhtoe: I'm pretty sure that only applies to sworn law enforcement. For example, police use building inspectors as an end-run around warrant requirements.
Where does the Census have the authority in the first place to gather this information? Article 1, Section 2 of the US Constitution authorizes only a head count, and the Tenth Amendment states that "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." Therefore this "Census" is illegal.
What is the legal stance of answering only in riddles?
I hate how even consumerist gives worthless advice like "they will have a badge." How useful is a badge when the people they are encountering have no way to verify the authenticity. We have no clue what the badge looks like. It could be a thick RFID-based badge, it could be a laminated piece of paper.
I'm not giving anyone I don't know one shred of information. I don't care if they have a badge or a canvas tote bag or whatever.
If you suspect fraud, eat their livers with fava beans and a nice Chianti.