I may be a bit behind the times on some issues and maybe this advice finds you a bit late or you've heard of this before but; even the caboose on a train, although the last one to arrive is still attached to the train...
I just received a great warning from a KW office that has been experiencing a particularly disturbing type of fraudulent activity. Please heed this and file it away in those "steel traps" of memories that we realtors and brokers possess. (That last part was my attempt at humor)
OK, fake census people are calling realtors to obtain information regarding vacant homes. They are, in all actuality "scoping" the properties to vandalize, occupy them or by committing a type of rental fraud, lease them to unsuspecting individuals in the public and collecting payments in cash.
If you receive any calls from people claiming to be with the census office take a look at your mobile/office phone and see if you can retrieve the phone number from which they have called. Always be polite and never let them know you may be on to them. Give them your fax number or email and ask them to send you a written request for the information that you'll pass on to the homeowner and ask that they include their "U.S. Census ID Number" in the cover letter.
I hope this helps and alerts you to yet another scam some very creative yet untrustworthy people are entering and how you can prevent becoming a victim of such.
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