2010 Census Scam Alert: Is Your Identity Safe?
By Audrey Howard on March 7, 2010, 10:53 amThe Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto and Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller have issued nationwide scam alerts in connection with the 2010 census. Unsuspecting citizens could unwittingly give their personal vital information to potential identity thieves through the scam.
Opportunity For Identity Theft
By using official looking census forms sent through the mail, just like the actual census forms, scammers could steal thousands of identities without the victims even knowing anything has happened until it’s too late. More brazen thieves may come door to door in an attempt to obtain the information.
Since there is no way to stop these identity thieves, officials are asking citizens to take extra precautions when filling out census forms or giving information to a census taker. The alert has government officials worried that frightened Americans will be reluctant to give the real census takers any information or will simply throw away the actual census forms that come in the mail.
How To Protect Yourself
Filling out the census information is extremely important for your state. The information allows the government to gauge how much state aid is needed and how many representatives the state will have in Washington.
The first census forms are expected to hit doorsteps and mailboxes in early March and anyone who has not sent in their form will get a visit from a census taker later in the summer. The real census forms will only ask demographic information and not personal information. Do not fill out any form that asks for your social security number. Census takers will be carrying government badges. However, if you do not feel comfortable giving your information to them you can mail in the census forms.
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I filled out a cencus form which was many pages long and now wonder if it was a scam as now I read where the forms are going to be sent out in mid March???? got another long one three weeks later which said if I had already filled out the first one that Ic could disregard that second one, so threw that one away..did not ask for ss number so hope this wasn’t a scam..
I also received a census form in early January and completed it and mailed it back. I also received a letter later with another form and said I could disregard if I sent in the previous form. I am now worried this was a scam.
Received Census form in mail in mid January 2010, asked for SS #, where born, birth date, age, Male or Female. Then heard on local news in Florida that if any CENSUS form asked for Social Security #, it was part of the thousands of Census forms being sent out that were a scam to get ID info. What do we do if put in SS info?