The Conservative Cave
Current Events => The DUmpster => Topic started by: franksolich on August 10, 2014, 06:22:51 PM
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http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025352234
Oh my.
HereSince1628 (28,622 posts) Thu Aug 7, 2014, 07:52 PM
Trying to decide if I just got a scam call claiming to be US Census
I got a phone call from a phone number which caller ID identified as Carpentera California. I am in SE Wisconsin. The call came after 5 pm...after working hours in WI, but middle of the afternoon in CA.
The woman on the other end claimed to be a census worker sitting in the driveway to my land, which has a building under construction, clearly visible in satellite images free on google or mapquest or the county on-line GIS public record. But the house has no residents and isn't complete...no plumbing hook-ups, nothing but rough-in electric etc.
She claimed to have gotten my phone number (which isn't in my name) from county land records. I've never known a census worker to make a phone call, let alone go to the effort of getting a phone number from a land office.
She didn't want any demographic information about me or about possible household members, she wanted information about the house. Strange for a census. The questions she asked about included specific information that is in county building permits or is visible in satellite images on the county land records or google maps. She talked about sitting in her car next to fields, but never about being next to the building. Wouldn't a census worker who thought someone lived there have gone up to the building? And seen it was under construction and why no one was home?
It seemed quite odd to me that the Census Bureau would want information on a house which had no residents. It also seemed she was feeding me information to build her credibility which really was one way or another available on-line from the county.
By coincidence, I've lived in apartments in 1980, 2000, and 2010 and I have never received a telephone call from the census bureau. The woman never identified herself by name, never provided a US census bureau worker ID number, etc. just kept asking for information about the inside of the house.
It triggered my distrust, and I hung up. I went to the US Census Bureau website that has a staff finder...plugged in her name as it appeared on my telephone ID and came back not in their record.
So, is my personality disorder getting the best of me, or does this also seem strange to the yet to be diagnosed?
FSogol (20,751 posts) Thu Aug 7, 2014, 07:59 PM
1. Probably a real estate agent. Or maybe some county/township bureaucrat
looking into whether un-permitted improvements were made to the property (allowing them to increase the taxes and/or fine the owner. Best just to hang up and not give it another thought.
newfie11 (5,614 posts) Thu Aug 7, 2014, 08:05 PM
5. More like a tax Assessor the an a census person
We just had two show up here. If your building a new house they want to know all about it so the county can get more money.
HereSince1628 (28,622 posts) Thu Aug 7, 2014, 08:17 PM
9. Wasn't. I called the tax assessor at his home...benefit of rural life...
Seems strange to me.