Census Bureau Workers & Imposters

Have you received a phone call from someone claiming to be a Census Bureau worker, asking questions about your clients?  I received such a call recently, and it prompted me to raise my guard in these respects:

Confidentiality

My clients are entitled to confidentiality, which means I will not answer any questions about them to anyone claiming to be a Census Bureau worker.  This includes refusal to enter into any discussion at all from which the caller might be able to piece together any bits of information or identify other people who they might contact.  In short, once someone identifies themself as a Census Bureau worker, the conversation is over, and all I will say is that "I will not provide you with any information."

Fraud & Abuse

With the general population aware that the U.S. census is currently being undertaken and that hundreds of thousands of Census Bureau workers are actively researching who inhabits dwellings from which census forms have not been received, there are bound to be crooks posing as Census Bureau workers, taking advantage of people's good natured helpfulness, with sinister motives.  On a phone call, there is simply no way to tell whether someone claiming to be a Census Bureau worker really is.

In the case of the call I received, the caller claimed to be a Census Bureau worker, told me he had gotten my name from my "For Sale" sign, proceeded to describe a property that is not my listing, and started asking questions about its inhabitants.  Unprepared for this type of questioning, I paused for a moment to think through the two issues I've described above, and declined to provide any information.

You may be faced with an unexpected call such as this, and it will be beneficial to you and your clients if you have thought through in advance how to deal with it.

David North
Greater Seattle WA
Real Estate Professional
Coldwell Banker Bain
www.AweHomes.com
425-836-3096 any time