# Is this a census scam? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 20, 2020, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-census-scam/849874 "2020-03-20T06:09:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-census-scam/849874/1 "2020-03-20T06:09:01Z")
I got a letter that appears to be from the census. It gives me an ID number and tells me to go online to fill out my census information by April 1. But the online address it uses is [my2020census.gov](http://my2020census.gov) and I checked online and the official census site is [2020census.gov](http://2020census.gov). I tried checking online to see if the my2020census site is a known scam and I found several sites that assured me it’s legit. But quite frankly, those sites look more questionable than the letter I received. And it seems to me that if some organization was able to set up one site for an online phishing scam, it would have no problem setting up a few other fake sites to tell people it was legit. So is this a legitimate alternative site that the government set up for some obscure reason? Or is it a scam? ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-census-scam/849874/2 "2020-03-20T06:21:03Z")
Not a scam. If you go to [2020census.gov](http://2020census.gov) and click where it says “Take the Census” it will take you to the place that [my2020census.gov](http://my2020census.gov) will also take you to. The questions do not require you to reveal any financial information, although you have to put in your birth date. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-census-scam/849874/3 "2020-03-20T11:18:34Z")
I got the notice and went and filled out the census right away. Now I’m getting another one, but I tossed the first one and don’t know if it’s a duplicate or what. Oh well, they’re going to need to redo it after the mess we’re in anyway. Numbers might be very different in a few months. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-census-scam/849874/4 "2020-03-20T11:31:49Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > I got the notice and went and filled out the census right away. Now I’m getting another one, but I tossed the first one and don’t know if it’s a duplicate or what. Literally the same exact thing happened to me. Got the first one, did it online and threw away the card. Got a second one and I have no idea if the numbers are the same. I threw that one away too. ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-census-scam/849874/5 "2020-03-20T12:33:51Z")
I got two notices four days apart. The numbers on the forms were identical. No idea why they would send two notices, but I’ll blame the government. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-census-scam/849874/6 "2020-03-20T12:37:20Z")
The “.gov” is key. There are restrictions on who can get a “.gov” domain and sometimes somebody finds a workaround for a little while, but generally you can trust them. I got the form. Did some Googling. And from the [2020census.gov](http://2020census.gov) web site found a link to the [my2020census.gov](http://my2020census.gov) site and filled it in. (Surprisingly short, in my case. YMMV. OTOH, they insisted I fill in the extraction thing. Look, we don’t have easyily pegged extraction in many cases and some people have no idea. Just let people leave it blank. Better yet don’t ask. Why does the government need this at all? I’ve done a lot of family genealogy and a simple “Where were you born?” helps much more.) Two years til the 1950 census goes public! ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-census-scam/849874/7 "2020-03-20T12:37:52Z")
> [@mcgato](#): > > I got two notices four days apart. The numbers on the forms were identical. No idea why they would send two notices, but I’ll blame the government. Probably because they knew people would throw away at least one of them. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-census-scam/849874/8 "2020-03-20T12:38:29Z")
When I did mine, there was mention that I might recieve further mailings and I should ignore them. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-census-scam/849874/9 "2020-03-20T12:39:42Z")
I got the letter and verified it through the Census site. The [my2020census.gov](http://my2020census.gov) is the census. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-census-scam/849874/10 "2020-03-20T12:40:19Z")
> [@mcgato](#): > > I got two notices four days apart. The numbers on the forms were identical. No idea why they would send two notices, but I’ll blame the government. Same here, and we’ll probably get more. It may take a while for the system to register that we’ve already completed the census for our household. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-census-scam/849874/11 "2020-03-20T12:54:36Z")
You can’t leave the ancestry questions blank, but there is an option on both of them for “prefer not to say”. And did you notice that the two mailings were in different shapes of envelope? I think they’re planning on some set of people who automatically throw out envelopes of the “wrong” shape as junk mail (and which shape is the “wrong” shape could vary from person to person). It’s hard enough to get an accurate census that I’m all in favor of any tricks they can use to make it more accurate. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-census-scam/849874/12 "2020-03-20T13:59:12Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > You can’t leave the ancestry questions blank, but there is an option on both of them for “prefer not to say”. Maybe it depends on your browser? Using Firefox on a Windows machine I left it blank and hit submit. It returned the same page with the left-blank area highlighted red. I hit submit again and it accepted it. It’s not that I prefer not to say, but rather I do not know or care. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-census-scam/849874/13 "2020-03-20T14:37:57Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Maybe it depends on your browser? Using Firefox on a Windows machine I left it blank and hit submit. It returned the same page with the left-blank area highlighted red. I hit submit again and it accepted it. > > It’s not that I prefer not to say, but rather I do not know or care. I marked “other” and said “unsure.” ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-census-scam/849874/14 "2020-03-20T15:22:27Z")
> [@mcgato](#): > > I got two notices four days apart. The numbers on the forms were identical. No idea why they would send two notices, but I’ll blame the government. > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Probably because they knew people would throw away at least one of them. 😃 Yeah, the second is a reminder for the first. Ignore both and the third would be the paper form. ---
**Author:** ![Raza](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raza/32/213_2.png) [@Raza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raza)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-census-scam/849874/15 "2020-03-20T15:27:43Z")
I printed my confirmation page. I found it odd that it included the sentence: > [@](#): > > If you receive other mail from the Census Bureau about the 2020 Census in the next few days, please disregard it. I have a feeling multiple mailings were inadvertently sent out. For the ancestry/extraction, I’m “English, Irish, German, Swedish, French”. I typed that exact phrase into the box, and it accepted it. I’m a bit happy about that; as a 3+ decade amateur genealogist, I’ve spent a lot of time going over Census records looking for both primary and interesting data (like occupation). Hopefully that bit of info will be useful to someone 70+ years from now. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-census-scam/849874/16 "2020-03-20T16:06:58Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally Posted by \*\*mcgato \*\* > I got two notices four days apart. The numbers on the forms were identical. No idea why they would send two notices, but I’ll blame the government. Eh, the government probably had SDMB post them. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-census-scam/849874/17 "2020-03-20T17:05:55Z")
I’ll admit the ancestry part caused me some confusion. French? Canadian? Quebecois? I went with French Canadian. ---
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-census-scam/849874/18 "2020-03-20T18:49:09Z")
I put down “English” as the ancestry part. It wouldn’t accept it if it was blank (I tried a few times). ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-census-scam/849874/19 "2020-03-20T19:57:13Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Why does the government need this at all? I’ve done a lot of family genealogy and a simple “Where were you born?” helps much more.) Where I was born is nowhere remotely near where either of my parents was born; neither physically nor culturally. And giving only the place of birth for my parents would be drastically misleading as to their ethnicity. Come to think of it, it would be misleading as to mine, also. Place of birth may be useful in your own family for asking a question about ethnicity; but it doesn’t work for a lot of other people. ETA: whether the government actually needs to know about ethnicity is a whole different question. There are good reasons and potentially bad reasons for them to want to. I expect to fill mine in honestly, however. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-census-scam/849874/20 "2020-03-20T20:37:12Z")
I tried to fill it out, but when I clicked on the start button, nothing happened. Just nothing, not the indication that it was trying to connect that I have gotten so familiar with from TSD, but nothing at all. Perhaps because from a foreign address, but I thought they wanted to tally ex-pats. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-census-scam/849874.md?page=2)