By Rick Dandes
SUNBURY — Census takers say some Valley residents may be getting scammed by con artists who are seeking personal information that could be used by identity thieves.
Melinda Weller, a Snyder County census worker, said people told her that a man in the Richfield area was pretending to be a census worker, asking for Social Security numbers.
State police in Selinsgrove said Monday night they were unaware of anyone posing as census workers, but would look into the case.
Meanwhile, Paula Zitzler, assistant manager of the Altoona census office, which partially supervises Richfield area workers, said, “Do not give your Social Security number out to someone saying they are a census worker. This is not information we are asking for.”
She also noted that it’s too early in the census process to see workers on the streets, knocking on doors, asking questions.
“We’re just now beginning to mail out the questionnaires,” Golden said.
More than 120 million U.S. census forms begin arriving Monday in mailboxes around the country, in the government’s once-a-decade population count that will be used to divvy up congressional seats and more than $400 billion in federal said.
