How to identify census-based scams

Considering how many criminals there are out there, it's not too surprising that there have been reports surfacing of fake 2010 Census forms hitting our mail boxes.

Alison Southwick, a spokesperson for the Better Business Bureau, sent me a press release informing me of a census-related scam involving crooks going through neighborhoods with forms and asking for people's Social Security numbers (which is a question that is not on the real census form). So I hopped on the phone to get her take on the scam, and here's what she told me.

Odds are, the census form you receive in the mail will be real. After all, everyone in the country is supposed to get one, while the con artists can't cover close to similar ground. So this post isn't meant to alarm anyone, just inform. Your census form, whenever it arrives via the U.S. Postal Service, is probably genuine.