Posted on 08/18/2022 7:46:02 AM PDT by fwdude
A little background. My elderly singe mother lives locally, in her own home alone, with daily check-ins by relatives, household employees and friendly neighbors whom she compensates for help with her care.
A few years ago, she was contacted by someone who identified themselves as a Census worker. She was requesting financial information a little more detailed than the decennial census would require. Mom says that the lady paid her a personal visit to help her fill out the form. My mom is very kind and tender-hearted, which makes her a little blind to scams and quite naïve about many things. So, she accommodated this lady, who mom described as "very nice," and even showed her some of her financial documents. That was alarming enough, but mom said that she made a follow-up visit to go over her information.
I didn't think much about this until recently, but now I'm freaking out. I keep a pretty close watch over her accounts and finances and haven't noticed anything suspicious, but I'm beginning to think that her secure identity been compromised.
What is the best course of action to take at this point?
Nothing has happened? Yet?
I’d change any accounts you suspect the person may have become privy to for starters and do it today.
Next I’d set up some kind of account / credit protection service.
Anybody asking those kinds of questions I tell to take a hike and your mother should have that as a standing order.
I guess I’ve turned senior now. I see an alarming number of attempts to prey on seniors. I tell the would be fraudsters all to take a long walk off of a short pier in forceful terms. I still plan to go out as a lion becoming an ever more dedicated example of sage advice for never picking a fight with an old man.
They are supposed to wear an official-looking I.D. badge, but mom couldn't describe one. I wish I had been involved. More than likely I would have told the woman to get lost.
I have done this before and have no need that I can think of for credit. I should do the same.
https://www.census.gov/acs/www/about/why-we-ask-each-question/img/form_qs/2019/43_income_1.png
https://www.census.gov/acs/www/about/why-we-ask-each-question/img/form_qs/2019/44_income_2.png
Put a freeze on her credit ASAP.
Put a Ring Doorbell or Camera up at her house and pay for a data storage service.
I use Life Lock and Title Lock.
It’s simple to unlock a credit report for a couple hours when and if you need to.
How about we make "public assistance" a private matter, as it had been in centuries past? Then privacy would enjoy a renewed renaissance.
Call your local Census office if you can't get the name of the purported Census worker who was at your mother's house.
Yes.
Your first question should be: Let me see your identification!
Regards,
“she was contacted by someone who identified themselves as a Census worker”
Now you have me confused. How many were there?
NOT necessarily.
Your second sentence just appeared out of nowhere.
I had to read it twice before the meaning began to sink in.
If that happened to you, I’m sorry for your experience.
Must have been devastating to have a sister mangle the truth that way.
Some elderly parents may a glimmer of what’s really going on, but they may feel resigned to what appears to be their fate. Some adult children will pounce on any opportunity to acquire more wealth, property as their parent moves into a state of being senile.
I got my The American Community Survey in the mail. It was very intrusive and a pain in the butt. They basically wanted my Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) for a 1 year period, not a calendar year but from 31 Jul 2021 to 1 Aug 2022. It was a pain in the butt, because I had to add up my interest, dividends, retirement salary without the aid of a 1099-DIV, 1099-INT or 1099-RET. They could not use my tax filings from 2021 because they wanted an up to date number. It took me about 6 hours to do all the number crunching. They say they only send the survey out to 4 million people a year. This year I was one of the lucky ones. LOL!
“It is a mailed survey form, and should not involve a person intruding into your home.”
Many decades ago I worked for the census bureau.
We did visit the homes of folks who did not respond to the mailed form—and most of them were elderly folks.
“The constitutionality of the ACS is questionable.”
Fair point—but these days the Constitution is used by the elites for puppy training.
Someone actually came to my house several times. I verified the person with the CB and she was light. Relentless is an understatement. Not sure if it was the ACS but very intrusive questions.
Contact the police and arrange for her to set an appointment to meet with the (possible) scammer and have a cop there to grill and possibly arrest the (possible) offender. Or verify that she's valid.
Second question, can I take a picture of this? I don't know what a real census worker ID card looks like, so I want to look the card up online and call the census office to verify you.
Holy cow....I hate that for you. .I hope you got it worked out to your satisfaction.
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