Does anyone know why this happened to us and no one else?

Question

Okay this lady from the senses (I dunno if its right) Bureau came to our house, we got notifications via phone and mail saying they were coming out to our neighborhood. My mom got asked the general questions (race, household members, etc) and my mom answered, the lady showed a badge as well. We asked another neighbor and he said no one came to his house from the bureau. My mom thinks it is because of our last name. Our last name is German and its Amacher. Its not a common name where we live. She thinks they came out to investigate us because of our name,(we're white). My mom has even been turned down for jobs or got strange looks from people when they found out our last name... why did the lady come to our house and no one elses?

Answer 1

If she was from the Census Bureau, it was just a random followup for a more in-depth survey.  You probably got picked by a computer selecting a certain number of addresses in your zip code or something.

Also, showing a badge is not enough nowadays... there are too many people out there using that as a scam to get inside someone's house to rob it.  If you're not expecting someone from a particular government agency (this includes things like city maintenance, DWP, and so forth), ask to see their ID, and call to see if they're there on legitimate business.  If they are legitimate, they shouldn't mind.

Answer 2

Don't worry about it. If they're authentic Census workers (check that, call the Census bureau to make sure its not a scam) then you're just part of a random sample that they pull to check census information and they're just trying to determine what resources they are going to need to conduct the next census.

By law, any information that they obtain from you is strictly confidential.

Answer 3

Call the police on her, just because she has a badge doesn't mean she's legit.

Answer 4

Not to worry about your beautiful German name. Your an American. I would say if your last name was Hitler that might make people wonder. They take census all the time.