Census Forms: How to Spot a Scam

Reported by: John Matarese

Check your mailbox in the next few weeks for an important mailing from the census bureau. Don't throw it away: It will be the official 2010 US Census.

But these days, how can you be sure it's really the census, and not from a scam artist phishing for personal information?

Woman Concerned by Mailing

Debbie recently opened her mail to find a packet from the US Census bureau. No problem, as she had heard the census was coming. But when Debbie,  who asked that we not use her last name, started flipping through the 28 page survey, she became worried.

She says "I was very uncomfortable with some of the questions they asked. I thought they were very invasive."

Debbie always assumed the census was simply to count people.

"They did want to know how many people live here," she says. "But they also asked about what time I leave for work, how many hours I work, what time get get to work."

It got worse.

"They asked questions about how much I make, how much my water bill was for the last year, what I paid in taxes!"

Just 10 Questions for Most People

Was it the census? Or was it a scam? And do the rest of us have to look forward to such prying questions this year?

We checked with the US Census bureau, and the good news is most of us will not receive the survey Debbie did.

Census organizer Cynthia King, who answers Census questions at local malls, says the mailing most of us will receive will ask just the basics.

"The Census is so easy to fill out, it's only 10 questions, and should not take more than 5 or 10 minutes to complete. You will put more info on a credit card application than on this census form."

And only if you don't fill it out will you get a knock on your door.

Next:  So Was it Real or a Scam?