The 2010 Census: How to Protect Your Identity from Scammers and Make Yourself Count (March 2010)

The U.S. Constitution requires that all residents of the United States be counted every ten years¹ . This is the job of the U.S. Census Bureau which administers the Decennial Census.² Shortly, you will receive a form in the mail for the 2010 Census. The form is short -- only ten questions -- and the questions are easy to understand. The answers you provide are used only for statistical purposes. Your personal information is not shared with anyone outside of the U.S. Census Bureau, and by law your personal record must remain sealed for 72 years.³

You should complete the form and mail it back by April 1, 2010. This will help ensure an accurate count of all New York residents. Why is that important? An accurate count means that your community will get its fair share of representation in your city government and in the New York State legislature, and your State will get its fair share of representation in the U.S. Congress. It also means that your community and State will get their fair share of more than four hundred (400) billion dollars in annual federal funds. That’s more than four trillion over the next ten years. These funds are urgently needed for schools, hospitals, job training centers and other State services.

When you do not participate, your community is undercounted, and the undercount means a loss of urgently needed federal dollars. For each person who does not participate, the annual loss to the community has been estimated at just over $9,000. ⁴ Multiply that figure by 100 in your community who do not participate in the 2010 Census, and many local services that rely on federal dollars could be placed in jeopardy. Thus, you should perform this important duty for your community and your State.

How to Protect Your Identity

The New York State Department of State Division of Consumer Protection understands that you may be reluctant to participate in the 2010 Census because of fears of falling victim to identity theft. After all, the Census seems to be asking you to give personal information to a complete stranger, something you would not normally do. Moreover, the Census has not yet begun but press reports of Census-related identity theft have already been circulating. ⁵ The Division believes that you can effectively protect your identity while participating in the Census if you follow the five steps provided below.

1.        Examine the Package You Get in the Mail.

The package consisting of the Census form, a cover letter and a return envelope should be delivered to your mailbox by the middle of this March 2010. A few days prior to receiving your package, you should first receive a letter from the Director of the Census Bureau alerting you that your package is coming. The package will be marked from the U.S. Census Bureau and as OFFICIAL BUSINESS of the United States. The form itself asks just ten questions relating to the name, sex, age and date of birth, race and relationship of each of the members of your household as well as whether the housing unit is owned or rented. The form DOES NOT request bank account or credit card information, salary or income, citizenship or immigration status, or Social Security numbers. If you are afraid that the mail package you received may not be legitimate, you should contact the U.S. Postal Inspection Service to discuss your concerns. For further information, visit https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/investigations/MailFraud/MailFraud.aspx. You can also check whether the form you received is genuine by contacting your regional Census office. For a listing of regional offices, please visit http://www.census.gov/regions/.

2.        Do Not Respond to E-Mails.

The U.S. Census Bureau does not conduct the Census via the Internet. Furthermore, the Census Bureau will not send out e-mails to anyone to encourage them to participate in the counting process. If you get an e-mail providing a form or asking you to participate in the 2010 Census and it appears to have been sent by the U.S. Census Bureau, you should NOT reply to the e-mail, you should NOT click on any links and you should NOT open any attachments. The e-mail may be a phishing message from a scammer designed to trick you into surrendering personal information for the purpose of committing identity theft. For more information on identity theft and phishing e-mails, please visit the Division website here.

Instead of replying to the message, you should forward the suspicious e-mail for investigation to the U.S. Census Bureau at [email protected]. After you forward the e-mail to the Bureau, you should delete the message. While you will not receive a confirmation e-mail after forwarding the information to the Census Bureau, the Bureau will investigate the information and notify you of its findings.

3.        Complete and Return the Census Form Prior to April 1, 2010.

The easiest way to protect your identity in the Census process is to carefully complete the form and return it by mail prior to the April 1 deadline. If the answers on your form are incomplete or unclear, you may receive a follow-up telephone call to clarify your answers. A Census employee will contact you at the telephone number you provided on the form. If you do not return your Census form by the April 1 deadline, you will receive an in-person visit from a Census employee assigned to follow-up with households whose forms were not received by the deadline.⁶ For advice on how to verify that any callers or visitors you receive are actual Census employees, see items 4 and 5 below.

4.        Verify the Identity of Any Caller Claiming to Be a Census Employee.

A few days prior to receiving a follow-up telephone call from the U.S. Census, you should receive via postal mail service a letter from the Census Director alerting you to expect the call. Ask the caller to provide identifying information that you may use to verify his or her status as a Census employee. To verify that the person who called you is indeed a legitimate Census employee, contact the Census Bureau at the telephone numbers provided on the official website at http://www.census.gov/npc/contactus.html. You may answer questions that clarify the responses you provided on the Census form. If the caller asks for any other information such as your Social Security number or your bank account or credit card information, you should discontinue the call and ask the Census Bureau to investigate.

5.        Verify the Identity of Any In-Person Visitor Claiming to Be a Census Employee.

A few days prior to receiving an in-person visit from a field representative of the U.S. Census, you should receive via postal mail service a letter from the Census Director alerting you to expect the visit. The field representative is required to present an ID badge which displays the watermark of the U.S. Department of Commerce and an expiration date. The representative will carry a handheld electronic device to record your answers and may also carry a bag displaying the logo of the U.S. Census Bureau.

You should ask the representative to provide you with a letter from the Director of the Census Bureau on official letterhead along with the supervisor contact information or Regional office telephone number for verification. To verify that the person who visited you is a legitimate Census employee, use the contact information provided by your visitor. If you are concerned about the accuracy of this information, you can verify the visitor’s identity through the telephone numbers provided on the Census website at http://www.census.gov/npc/contactus.html.

You should be asked only the questions on the Census form. If the visitor requests other information such as your Social Security number or bank account or credit card information, you should discontinue the visit and ask the Census Bureau to investigate.

Don’t let scammers interfere with you participating in the Census 2010. New York State and your community need to “Count” on you. By following the five simple steps above to protect your identity, you, your community and your State are all winners -- not just in getting a fair share of representation and funding but also in fighting back against identity thieves who will try to take advantage of this opportunity and, as a result, undermine this American tradition. If you would like more information about identity theft prevention and mitigation, please review the resources available on the Division website at http://www.nysconsumer.gov/protecting/identity_theft/prevention_mitigation.htm.

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