Greg's Corner

Presidential candidate puts fake census ads on social media

Since the US census only takes place only once a decade, it gives scammers the opportunity to find a new generation of victims. Previously we’ve discussed how census scammers may try to either steal your personal information or get you to give them money. Then it may or may not come as a surprise to you that a member of the government may be using the census to try to get you to give them money, specifically to make donations to their presidential campaign. And what if we told you that not only was this person allegedly using phony census ads to solicit campaign donations but that they have held one of the highest offices in the land.

Facebook recently removed a series of misleading ads that claimed to be from the Official 2020 Congressional District Census. One of the main purposes of the actual US Census is to determine the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives. So by claiming to be an official Congressional district census, you can see how it could lead to confusion. not only that but the 2020 census, which starts March 12th, will be the first US Census that you can complete online which could lead to more confusion from the deceptive ads.

If you were to click on one of these ads you would be asked a series of questions before being taken to the candidate’s campaign website where you’d be asked to make a campaign donation. Here’s a handy picture of what one of the ads looked like. We’ve edited the picture in order to remain impartial.

While some may decry this ad as FAKE NEWS since anyone can buy a Facebook ad, a BBC investigation found that the ads were backed by the candidate’s official campaign and the candidate’s own political party.

Those who oppose this candidate may be well within their right to say actions like this not only undermine an official government function in the census, but it also appears to severely undermine the Democratic process in America.