US – Citizens be Careful of 2010 Census E-mail Scams

In March 2010, numerous US Census surveys will reach inboxes throughout the nation and Houston Road, looking for details about every person living in the US. Hence, local law enforcement agencies state that users should be careful against hackers.

Security experts said that hackers would aim at stealing money or personal details. This means that they would take advantage of the forthcoming 2010 census. They could send bogus mails or make fake calls or could even turn up at your place posing as census takers.

A consumer affairs investigator at the Virginia Beach Commonwealth Attorney' Office, George Chandler, has claimed that the 2010 Census could be a great opportunity for spammers to get all kinds of details from people who think they are talking to a census worker, but in reality, they are not, as per the news by pilotonline on February 11, 2010. That information could be used by hackers to commit ID theft, make fake credit cards or drain bank accounts.

Leah Napoliello, Director of Philanthropy, Houston Better Business Bureau, stated that this issue was very critical. If any user revealed his social security number, they would steal his identity and if any user gave his credit card number, they would plunder his money, as per the news by abc13 on February 11, 2010.

To make people aware about the process of the survey, Dennis Johnson, Regional Director of Census Bureau, claimed that census takers would come from local communities, as per the reports by Edmondson.com on February 1, 2010.

Johnson also added that if a census taker reached user's home, he would show his Census Bureau identification badge and told residents about the survey for which their involvement was required.

Moreover, the Census officials suggested online users to be careful of phishing, mail scams and fake census sites. The Census Bureau does not carry the 2010 Census through mail or the Web. Users should forward suspicious mail or website addresses to the Census Bureau at itso.fraud.reporting@census.gov.

Chandler informed that a fraud alert had been issued by the Consumer Affairs Program as proactive measure. Further, Chandler hoped that they would receive minimum calls about stolen private details.

Related article: US Passes Baton to Asia in Spam Relay

» SPAMfighter News - 2/22/2010