Is it the Census Bureau or a scam?
WXIN/WTTV — With all the scams, hacks and other schemes going around these days, it can be hard to tell if you're being contacted by a con man or a legitimate organization.
This is often the case with the U.S. Census Bureau. While the official Census only happens every 10 years, the U.S. Census Bureau does a smaller survey of about 3.5 million randomly chosen people every year called the American Community Survey.
But how do you know it's not a scammer trying to get information about you?
First of all, according to Scamicide, if your first contact about the survey is a text, email or phone call, that's a scam. The U.S. Census Bureau will always first contact you through snail mail to let you know you've been selected for the survey. That letter should also include instructions on how to do the survey online or on paper. If you choose to do the survey online, and you don't complete it within three weeks, you should get a paper survey in the mail.
It's possible you might get a phone call about the survey later, but that should only happen if you've completed it and the Census Bureau needs to clarify something.
You can also confirm that you really have been selected my contacting your Census Bureau Regional Office at this website.
In addition, the real American Community Survey will not ask for your social security number or credit card information. Those are dead giveaways that you've been contacted by a scammer.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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