WASHINGTON — QUESTION: Will the Census Bureau call you?
ANSWER: Yes. They will sometimes follow up with respondents by calling or texting.
SOURCE: United States Census Bureau
PROCESS:
The Verify team received an email saying, "I filled out my census but I’m still getting voicemails from someone claiming to be with the Census Bureau. Is this legit?"
So we reached out to the U.S. Census Bureau. They told us that, yes, some people will receive phone calls from them. Here's why:
“Census workers will occasionally follow up with households over the phone to ask questions about their responses to the 2020 Census or other household surveys," officials told us in a statement. "The Census Bureau’s goal is to ensure that no person is left out of the census or counted in more than one place. We review your responses in order to ensure that we have a complete and accurate count.”
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A spokesperson told us that they will only reach out by phone if you included a household phone number when you filled out your census. Because of the way their data is collected, they only have one contact number per household, and it is not necessarily attached to a specific person.
They told us that a census worker will never ask for financial information or a social security number. If this happens to you, the Census Bureau asks that you report it to them.
A spokesperson said that the bureau is also experimenting with texting respondents to request that they answer a user experience survey.
A text message could be sent from one of the following numbers:
- 833-972-2561
- 833-969-2724
- 833-972-2579
If you receive a message from someone claiming to be with the U.S. Census Bureau from a different number, they ask that you report it.