How to discern a US Census worker from a scammer at your door

HOUSTON - There are now just 20 days left to complete the 2020 Census, and so far only about 62 percent of Texans have self-responded to it.

There have been scams, and you should stay alert over the next few weeks in case anyone comes to your door posing as a census worker, warns Jerome Garza, the assistant regional census manager for the Dallas region.

“Number one they will have a badge, photo ID that they will show everyone,” said Garza. “Number two, they will always be wearing a mask, they should be six feet apart, and in addition to that if ever the resident doesn’t have a mask, we do have some masks that we can provide them.”

He says census workers will never ask for your credit card or bank information or your social security number.

They’ll ask 10 basic questions that will remain confidential, and if you don’t want to wait for them to come to your door, you can do the census online at 2020census.gov or by phone at 844-330-2020.

Garza says there’s a big reason to participate in the census.

“Most importantly it returns billions and billions of dollars back to your community so that you can build things like firehouses, elementary schools, hospitals,” said Garza.