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| 2010 Census underway, beware of identity theft |
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| Emily Florez |
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1/10/2010 - IDAHO FALLS - Identity theft continues to be a huge issue across the United States. Everyday there are new ways this crime is committed and with the census beginning, the Better Business Bureau issued a warning for all consumers.
The 2010 census is underway, workers are out verifying addresses and in just a couple months there will be more than 140,000 workers out getting a head count. With so much information being gathered it is important you protect yourself by giving out only what is necessary.
One woman shares her story of being made a victim of identity theft, she said, "There were times that you just sat there and cried because you felt like the idiot. It was a lot of chaos, it was a lot of time."
After a long 10 years of dealing with identity theft this woman is still humiliated to be known as a victim.
She explains, "A friend or acquaintance came into our home and stole our checkbook. They had wrote a total of 13 checks that totaled over $2,100."
Although this happened years ago she feels the effects when applying for credit, and she is still forced to prove her innocence.
She said, "We felt like we were the ones being charged with it rather than we were the ones charging the people."
Becoming a victim of identity theft is anyone's nightmare. It's important to protect your personal information at all times, especially with the census coming up in March.
Donna OE from the Better Business Bureau says it's an opportunity for thieves to try to scam you.
Donna explained, "Some individuals may be tempted to think that they need to give personal information to a census worker, but a census worker will not ever ask for that personal information. That is not what their purpose is. Their purpose is to do a physical count of household persons."
Be aware that for the census you will receive a questionnaire in the mail, if you fail to reply you will be visited by a census worker. Do not give any more information than necessary, "Social Security numbers, they'll never ask for that, do not give that to them. Do not give them any of your personal information for checking accounts or credit cards. It's a free thing, if they are saying it's a thing that you have to pay a small fee for again that's bogus!" Donna said.
Eventually census workers may also contact you by phone but they will not contact you by email. Be on the lookout for email scams impersonating the census. Never click on a link or open attachments in an email that is supposedly from the U.S. Census Bureau.
If you're interested in viewing the 10 questions on the census beforehand, here is the link: http://2010.census.gov/2010census/how/interactive-form.php |
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