As the first phase of the 2010 Census began this month, the Better Business Bureau of Southern Piedmont is warning people to be wary of scammers pretending to be U.S. Census Bureau workers.
This already is happening in other parts of the country, although no cases have been reported yet in the Charlotte area, BBB spokeswoman Janet Hart said.
The census bureau has recently begun verifying every address in the nation in preparation for its decennial count next year.
Although people are generally wary about giving out banking or other personal information during unsolicited phone calls or visits, they may be more willing to do so if they think the person they are talking to is with the census agency, the BBB said.
The bureau emphasized that Census workers will not ask for Social Security numbers, banking or other financial information.
Other alerts include:
Census workers will carry identification, which people should ask to see.
Census workers will not ask for money, or tell you that you owe money.
Census workers may contact you by phone, mail or in person. They will not use e-mail for any contacts. Scammers have been known to send e-mails pretending to be from various government agencies.
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