Australian Bureau of Statistics Form in Letter Box
Old and Grey said
06:01 PM Jul 31, 2020
Hi everyone,
Got a letter last week in the mail from Australian Bureau of Statistics. It says (Your part in the Wellbeing and Lifestyle Survey, Your official guide.)
A second letter turned up yesterday.
Has anyone else received same. If so what do they want. No name on letterhead, just :Obligation ID *&^$#^@ Number.
Sounds dodgy to us. We don't like telling others our private affairs.
Never seen one before.
Any help appreciated.
Old & Grey
Whenarewethere said
06:32 PM Jul 31, 2020
I just looked at the ABS website, they are running a survey, but there are always people running copies to get your ID.
Old and Grey said
07:11 PM Jul 31, 2020
Hi,
Yes well, No prior News that this is on the way. We have been selected at random.
Grey
Tony Bev said
07:17 PM Jul 31, 2020
I would not be giving any personal details, just in case it is a scam
Always better to be safe than sorry
The Government will already have your personal details
STRETCH ARMSTRONG said
07:25 PM Jul 31, 2020
When in doubt look up their number yourself and ring them.
Scamwatch website is also useful.
Santa said
10:56 PM Jul 31, 2020
According to the ABS website its an ongoing thing, a monthly survey over eight months.
"How long will I be in the survey for? You will be included in the survey once a month for eight months."
Quite some years back I was asked to do a similar survey. I forget the details exactly, but I did it when they sent the questionaires, on and off for quite a while. Then they zoomed in for more questions of less people and after a while I was dropped off and thanked for my participation. The sky did not fall in and nobody asked me for my bank accounts or the like.
Jaahn
Mobi Condo said
08:30 AM Aug 1, 2020
Sorry to be gloomy here, but my experience is that any time the ABS contacts one for a survey one is bound by law to participate or face a fine/court appearance etc. I feel that because it is in hard copy (that is a letter) it is genuine, and of course that can be easily checked by a phone call. I did just that to a phone request about 8 years back and was told I had to co-operate or else.
Since then of course scam calls have made life difficult and I can only assume that Aust. Post Mail is the only safe way for them to go due to suspicion etc. on our behalf and who can blame us? after all I am old enough to be a GOM (Grumpy Old Man)
I get great joy from ascertaining an I.D. "assurity" if you like from any call from a Govt office these days, and sure enough when the letter to back up comes I then phone them back to continue the discussion.
Cheers - Ian
Whenarewethere said
10:23 AM Aug 1, 2020
You could ask them to email you a copy so you can compare the one you received in the mail that it is legitimate. With all the scams going on I don't think that is unreasonable. We are constantly told to cross check things so our identity is not stolen.
Also write in a diary all correspondence with the ABS to cover your back side.
Whenarewethere said
10:31 AM Aug 1, 2020
Over the years I have had hard copy invoices in the mail for services I have never had. Also some quite threatening physical letters to pay things. The things scammers try, nothing surprises me.
A further problem is if you ever fall for one scam, you will end up on a list as an easy target & then it will never stop.
Kebbin said
11:12 AM Aug 1, 2020
Initially you are requested to fill in the survey, ABS do more then the Census. If the request to fill in the survey is ignored they will send a final letter, then
you are legally obliged to fill it in with penalties if you ignore it again.
Meredith said
12:36 PM Aug 1, 2020
We have been doing the ABS Population Survey for several months now. We originally got a letter in the mail but it had our name on it as well as a number and details. I looked into it very carefully before logging into their website and completing it. If it doesn't have your name and you have any doubts about it look up the ABS phone number (not from the letter of course) and ring them and talk to somebody. You are legally obligated to fill in the real ABS surveys in the same way as you are the Census.
Whenarewethere said
01:39 PM Aug 1, 2020
I couldn't do the last Census (besides other Census issues) as my computer's OS was too old. Still using the same computer with same OS as it does everything I need it to do.
Possum3 said
11:00 AM Aug 2, 2020
Whenarewethere wrote:
I couldn't do the last Census (besides other Census issues) as my computer's OS was too old.
Hi everyone,
Got a letter last week in the mail from Australian Bureau of Statistics.
It says (Your part in the Wellbeing and Lifestyle Survey, Your official guide.)
A second letter turned up yesterday.
Has anyone else received same. If so what do they want. No name on letterhead, just :Obligation ID *&^$#^@ Number.
Sounds dodgy to us. We don't like telling others our private affairs.
Never seen one before.
Any help appreciated.
Old & Grey
I just looked at the ABS website, they are running a survey, but there are always people running copies to get your ID.
Hi,
Yes well, No prior News that this is on the way. We have been selected at random.
Grey
Always better to be safe than sorry
The Government will already have your personal details
According to the ABS website its an ongoing thing, a monthly survey over eight months.
"How long will I be in the survey for?
You will be included in the survey once a month for eight months."
More information here.
https://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/D3310114.nsf/home/Survey+Participant+Information+-+Australia%27s+Wellbeing+and+Lifestyle+Survey+-+FAQs
Hi
Quite some years back I was asked to do a similar survey. I forget the details exactly, but I did it when they sent the questionaires, on and off for quite a while. Then they zoomed in for more questions of less people and after a while I was dropped off and thanked for my participation. The sky did not fall in and nobody asked me for my bank accounts or the like.
Jaahn
Since then of course scam calls have made life difficult and I can only assume that Aust. Post Mail is the only safe way for them to go due to suspicion etc. on our behalf and who can blame us? after all I am old enough to be a GOM (Grumpy Old Man)
I get great joy from ascertaining an I.D. "assurity" if you like from any call from a Govt office these days, and sure enough when the letter to back up comes I then phone them back to continue the discussion.
Cheers - Ian
You could ask them to email you a copy so you can compare the one you received in the mail that it is legitimate. With all the scams going on I don't think that is unreasonable. We are constantly told to cross check things so our identity is not stolen.
Also write in a diary all correspondence with the ABS to cover your back side.
Over the years I have had hard copy invoices in the mail for services I have never had. Also some quite threatening physical letters to pay things. The things scammers try, nothing surprises me.
A further problem is if you ever fall for one scam, you will end up on a list as an easy target & then it will never stop.
you are legally obliged to fill it in with penalties if you ignore it again.
I couldn't do the last Census (besides other Census issues) as my computer's OS was too old. Still using the same computer with same OS as it does everything I need it to do.
Download Microsoft Edge https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge Free.
Microsoft Edge is the browser for Windows 10, not the operating system.
It needs OS 10.12 I'm running OS 10.6.8
I rent a house to group of students.
They got such a letter .
It was genuine .
So just because it has no name on does not mean it is fake,
I would ring ABS up and verify it,
It should have a contact number on .
Don't ring the number on the letter. Find a phone number independently.