stop calling.

Yes, it is good practice to check. In fact, I just did and got this from the real .gov site:

Call Center:
301-763-INFO (4636) or 800-923-8282
TDD:
TTY users can dial 1-800-877-8339 to use the Federal Relay Service
Mailing Address:

   Via U.S. Postal Service (USPS):
        U.S. Census Bureau
        4600 Silver Hill Road
        Washington, DC 20233
   Via private carriers (FedEx, DHL, UPS, couriers and suppliers):
        U.S. Census Bureau
        4600 Silver Hill Road
        Suitland, MD 20746

Nice tries "Judy"!  Callers using a spoofed number are going to encounter U.S. citizens who are perfectly aware of what questions are going to be asked by a Census taker. Not to mention the fact that the Census is not generally done over the phone. Let me guess "Judy". Your "Census" people are going to be eager to ask for SSNs, personal information, banking information, credit card information, places of employment...blah, blah, blah.
Skeff Ett Liv!
Gunnar

This is a LEGIT US Census number.  If you haven't responded to the survey, they will call you, including the WEEKEND.  I called the number and responded to the survey on the phone this morning.  After reading many blogs regarding this number, I called the US Census Bureau help line at 800-354-7271, which is listed on the page 1 of the survey paper form and verified with the representative that 888-817-2153 is indeed a legit number.  So rest assured.  Always a good practice to check though.

This is a LEGIT US Census number.  If you haven't responded to the survey, they will call you, including the WEEKEND.  I called the number and responded to the survey on the phone.  I called the US Census Bureau help line at 800-354-7271, which is listed on the page 1 of the survey paper form and verified with the representative that 888-817-2153 is indeed a legit number.  So rest assured.  Always a good practice to check though.  

They have been calling me everyday for over a week now. I have asked them several times to not call and they say they will stop, but they keep calling. How is this not harassment?

Persistent call.  Appears as Unknown Caller on caller ID.  Even sends FAX.  Obviously a scam as the FAX letter head is cheap and not official looking.  No complete return mailing address.  Junk.

We got a call from this number telling us it was the USS Census Bureau.  Does anybody know if this is legimate?
 

A message got passed around our office and eventually to me today as follows:

"Please call Arletha of Safety.  She is calling regarding our account with ISNETWORLD.  They are on-line auditors.  Phone number is 888-817-2413."

Our accounting department confirmed that we have no accounts with anything like ISNETWORLD.

When I called it the recording is unprofessional and very blurry but sounds like they say Thank you for calling the offices of "Wolf, Scion & Able"... etc.

My scam meter is running at 100%.  

I had same experience as everyone else--was asked to call this number--the U.S. Census Bureau--and refer to case number 1968.  When I called, I, like everyone else, was asked if I lived at an address I've never lived at, said no, and gave them the correct address.  They then said my correct address wasn't eligible to participate in their survey.  I would be willing to believe it's actually the census bureau, except why do they seek to confirm a phony address (and a totally wrong one, not just an outdated one) with every single person who calls, thereby usually obtaining a correct address?  This strikes me as bizarre and a little alarming in retrospect.

Just got a call from this number too. However, I live in Canada, and I am just travelling in the US for a few days now. If they are the US census bureau, why would they be calling Canadians...?

Sorry. The CORRECT AND LEGAL website is www.census.gov. It ends in gov, not org. Be careful!

Spoke with the woman from the 'us census bureau'. She said I was required by law to do this census. I said I would do it online and she directed me to www.census.org. THIS IS A SCAM. The correct website for the US Census Bureau is www.census.org.

Correction: three years ago. The last census was done in 2010. The us census bureau conducts surveys every 10 years, per a US government employee. This is not a census year. BEWARE THIS IS A SCAM.

And we filled out the form two years ago, so no way is this legitimate.

Yeah, right. The us census bureau calls me on a Sunday night at 7pm, the woman caller left a message that was such a heavy Indian accent I could barely understand the message. And I work in Silicon Valley and am used to heavy accents. I don't care to be scammed or annoyed with these phone calls.

If you received a call from 1-888-817-2153 and want to know if it is a SCAM or the U.S. Census Bureau contact them at the following numbers or email at the bottom of this information.

Contact the National Processing Center
U.S. Census Bureau
National Processing Center
1201 East 10th Street
Jeffersonville, IN 47132

If you have not been contacted about a survey and are looking for general Census Bureau information, please call 301-763-INFO (4636) or 800-923-8282 and they can better answer your questions.

If you:

- want to verify that the person who called you is a Census Bureau employee,
- have a question about a survey form you received, or
- need to return a call about one of our surveys
- please contact us at one of these numbers:

Hagerstown, MD:   1-800-392-6975
Jeffersonville, IN:   1-800-523-3205
Tucson, AZ:   1-800-642-0469

Hours of operation for the contact centers:

Monday - Friday 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM
Saturday 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM
Sunday 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM

Additional language specialties may be available.

If you have questions about any of our telephone center operations, you can contact us via NPC.Call.Center.Info@census.gov.

We got this call also with the same 812 area code number.  We called the toll free number back and they hung up on my husband as he started asking them the same questions, like what is your address, what is your phone number!  It is a scam with totally different numbers than what is listed on the Census Bureau web site.  Even if it was the census bureau he would not give the information they wanted as they have it already and as US Citizens by law we are only obligated our address and how many people reside at the addres... nothing more or less!!!!  And really does the census bureau work on Saturdays!?

I receive a min. of 5-6 phones calls each day from this number.  Two at night.  I will not answer and will not complete this survey..  The harrassment needs to stop.

We received a call around 8:30 pm (which I thought rather weird) from the so-called Census Bureau.  I was skeptical because, 1) We did send in a form about a week ago, but she said they didn't receive it, and  2)She spoke with a very "foreign" accent.  When I see how old the above posts are, it makes me wonder if this is a re-activation of a scam from previous years to get personal information.  And yes, I did tell her we didn't give personal info. on the phone.  And I hung up.  I will try to call the Census Bureau Tomorrow (Evansville, IN) and check to see if it legit.

These people called my mother who is 80 years old and told her if she didn't answer the survey, they would come to her house.  Everytime they called, a different number would show up on her caller id.  The paper survey doesn't match how they identify themselves on the phone.  Do you know how intimidating this is to an older person!  I thought the census is done every 10 years and not in 2013.  Leave these senior citizens alone.!!!!

This is a SCAM. The US Census has already been done and "someone" is fishing for information and  I don't care what any telemarketer posting here says. I received a FAX from them and called the US Department of Commerce and asked them if they're sending out FAXES to people and after getting transferred several times she said No Way and do not give them any information or even acknowledge that you got the fax or calls. They also wanted a copy of the fax sent to them for their legal department. Using federal logos, etc is a federal crime.

We received a call from 888-817-2153 and they stated they were from the census bureau - on a Saturday!! When anyone in the government working on a saturday on a 3 day weekend. Most of my fellow government employees left Thursday night for this long weekend. We declined to give info and hung up and looked up the number here to find that it has been going since 2008? Gee the government is slower than I thought and the Census is every 10 years, the last one being 2010. So how is 2013 a census year?

I've been pestered mecilessly by these calls. If they're legit, what's the real purpose. As someone commented, government can waste money faster than a drunk in whorehouse

I went to the US Census Bureau website and asked them if 888-817-2153 is a valid census number.  Of course they did not give me a straight answer and sent the below email.  I called the MD number and they verified that 888-817-2153 is a valid number.  In my email I did state that they should have the 888 number on their main website so people can easily verify that it is a valid number.  They should also tell people when they leave a voicemail that they can verify that this is a valid phone number which can be verified at their website (if they actually made the 888 number a searchable item).  It will probably take them ten years and millions of phone calls before they make a link on their website for people to verify that the phone number they were left in a voicemail is a valid phone number.  There is a development tool called SCRUM and it has a two week development cycle.  That way a website is updated within 2 weeks.  Yes it will probably take the government 10 years to have a committee study this idea and put it out to bid for some contractor to charge a fortune to create a link that should be a no brainer.  I am also amazed at the number of people that stated that this 888 number is a scam without doing the proper research.  The behavior of some of the people who work for the census do make them appear as though they are doing a scam.  A retired minister friend of mine has said many times that assume that people's behavior is stupidity 90 percent of the time and just malicious 10 percent of the time.


U.S. Census Bureau CLMSO.Call.Center.Help@census.gov via govdelivery.com
10:10 AM (1 hour ago)

to me
Hello,

If someone has contacted you about the American Community Survey (ACS) and you?d like to verify that phone call you received was legitimate, you may call one of our call centers directly: Hagerstown, MD: 1-800-392-6975, Jeffersonville, IN: 1-800-523-3205, or Tucson, AZ: 1-800-642-0469 or our Census Regional Office at www.census.gov/regions .

If you would like to complete your ACS via telephone, please call 1-800-354-7271 and a telephone questionnaire assistance employee will help you complete the questionnaire.

We appreciate you contacting the U.S. Census Bureau's Question and Answer Center.

For additional concerns, please call the Census Bureau Customer Help Center at 1-800-923-8282 or submit a question online at ask.census.gov.

For help in your area, the Census Bureau Regional Offices can answer questions about field representatives and interviewing procedures: http://www.census.gov/regions/

For more information, click
https://ask.census.gov/reps/caseDetail.php?ag=5000&id=531873


For more information, click
https://ask.census.gov/reps/caseDetail.php?ag=5000&id=537345

I continue to get calls from 888-817-2153 stating they are from the Census bureau. I have also received two surveys.  I completed the survey during the decennial and encouraged other to do so. There was no explanation for the surveys, which are personal, so I am concerned about the telephone calls. I also received a post card stating, I can be jail for not completing the survey.   I am waiting for someone to show up at my door.  I called the "help" number on the packet I received 812 218 3144.  I got a recording, which directed me to call the number left on my voicemail.lol

I am also getting these calls. However even though our mailing address is a p.o box, people came door to door with forms and we had to fill them out then. There was a huge media campaign to let us know that they would be coming and when.

Please wake up. no government calls on the phone at 9:00 pm. Its a bill collector or a credit card co. with an offer you cant refuse. Please please never give anyone personal info over the phone. You could lose so much  answering  their baited questions.

If in doubt, check it out.  I did and found it was legit.  I called my regional Census Bureau.

I too received a call from 1-888-817-2153.  I declined to answer any questions and told them I would call back.  I called my regional Census Bureau and confirmed it was a VALID Census Bureau phone number at one of their calling centers - that the Americal Survey is being conducted!!!   Can't be too careful.  Call your regional Census Bureau office for validation.