Watch for identity thieves posing as census takers
We are about to take a new census in 2010, and census workers will begin collecting private information from all of us. The Better Business Bureau advises people to make sure they know how to determine whether the person asking for information is a census taker or an identity thief. The Better Business Bureau advises people to be cooperative, but cautious.
U.S. Census workers have begun verifying addresses of households and eventually count every person in the U.S., gathering information about every person living at each address including name, age, gender, race and other relevant data.
The big question is, How do you tell the difference between a U.S. Census worker and a con artist? The Better Business Bureau offers the following advice.
A U.S. Census worker will have a badge, a handheld device, a Census Bureau canvas bag, and a confidentiality notice. Ask to see the identification and the badge before answering questions. Never invite anyone you don’t know into your home. Do not give your Social Security number, credit card or banking information to anyone, even if the visitor claims to need it for the U.S. Census.
While the Census Bureau might ask for basic financial information, such as a salary range, you don’t have to answer anything at all about your financial situation if you don’t want to do so. The Census Bureau will not ask for Social Security, bank account or credit card numbers, nor will employees solicit donations.
Census workers may contact you by telephone, mail or in person at home. However, the Census Bureau will not contact you by e-mail. Never click on a link or open any attachments in an e-mail supposedly from the U.S. Census Bureau. Doing so could give them access to your computer and your private information.
For more advice, visit www.bbb.org on the Web.
Note to readers – Kent Svendsen is a retired Army Reserve military chaplain and the pastor of the cooperative ministry for First United Methodist Church of Forreston and Leaf River United Methodist Church.
