The census has started in France. If you are concerned, take care to ensure that you are dealing with real agents.
This Thursday, January 16, the 2025 census campaign was launched. Throughout France, agents will go to individuals’ homes for this annual INSEE survey. Someone will therefore be able to come to your home until February 22. According to Service-public.frfor municipalities with less than 10,000 inhabitants, this operation takes place every 5 years for the entire population and lasts from February 16 to 15. In large cities, it is carried out every year but each time on 8% of addresses, which therefore change each year. It takes place for these municipalities from January 16 to February 22.
9 million people are thus counted each year. This makes it possible to adjust the data on the number of people living in France and in each municipality as well as their characteristics (age, profession, housing, etc.). It is an obligation to participate if you are concerned. The agents come to your home and give you the notice with your identifiers for the site le-censement-et-moi.fr. So you can respond online, but otherwise the agent will give you all the paper documents to fill out.
Three new questions were added this year: the first concerns the practice of teleworking, the second the limitations in activities and the last the place of birth of the parents. The last two are optional. To find out if your municipality is affected by the census this year, you can search on the INSEE website.
This verification is quite important since it can be a first warning to scammers, who take advantage of this period to scam you. You should know that you are notified of the passage of an agent by a letter in your mailbox a few days before or by the agent directly. Once in front of your home, the agent must also present you with a tricolor card signed by the mayor and on which his photo and name must appear. If you want to verify this identity, you can contact the town hall. The crooks could otherwise use the data they have collected about you or even scout your home. The agents do not need to come to your home.
Scammers are also present on the internet. If you complete the questionnaire online, be sure to check the site you are visiting. You will never be asked for money to carry out such a task. Scams also come through mail, so be careful.