r/germany • u/sea_sweet876 • 1d ago

Is this letter a scam?

Post image

Hello all,

I would like to know if this letter is a scam or not. I want to be cautious before i take any action on it. Thank you for your help in advance.

163 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

49 comments sorted by

358

u/Brapchu 1d ago

That is not a scam and you 100% are legally mandated to do it unless you want to get fined

-164

u/Strange_Chemical5157 1d ago

So the letter didn't arrive. It probably wasn't registered mail, right? ^

88

u/Ok_Upstairs3431 1d ago

they will send you registered mail afterwards with the kind reminder that you have 14 days to do what they ask or pay 800€ in a very official way - also German law has the so called "zustellungsfiction" for Behörden where every letter they hand to the post legally is regarded to have arrived 3 days after they posted it - if you can not prove that is false the latter has gotten to you - welcome to Germany.
(the Behörde may take as long as they wish to respond to your registered mail if you dont go to the courts tho)

36

u/GFYSR 1d ago

"zustellungsfiction" for Behörden where every letter they hand to the post legally is regarded to have arrived 3 days after they posted it - if you can not prove that is false the latter has gotten to you - welcome to Germany.

This isnt actually true. Yes, Bekanntgabefiktionen exist but the burden of proof *does not shift to the recipient. See § 41 par. 2 s. 3 hs. 2 VwVfG

14

u/ken-der-guru Nordrhein-Westfalen 1d ago

Correct. Also since 2025 it is 4 days for “Zustellungsfiktion”.

7

u/ken-der-guru Nordrhein-Westfalen 1d ago

Since 2025 it is actually 4 days. The law about the post got changed.

(And it is a little bit more complicated.)

-144

u/Strange_Chemical5157 1d ago

So the letter didn't arrive. It probably wasn't registered mail, right? ^

Furthermore, they write "please" twice.

52

u/FleXXger 22h ago

They don't write "please" even once. They use "bitten" as a verb which is a very polite form of demanding something.

8

u/SapphirianDiadem Niedersachsen 22h ago

Okay, and? It did arrive. Unless you’re offering to pay the fines for OP, quit being a jackass. It’s official and must be answered promptly.

193

u/lucahrsh 1d ago

Thats the only survey (i know) you have to answer. You get fined if you dont.

44

u/Noctew Nordrhein-Westfalen 1d ago

Well, there is the regular census where the sample size is bigger than the microcensuses' 1%, the last was in 2022. You are also required to participate there.

27

u/lucahrsh 1d ago

Zensus is Zensus

21

u/mizinamo 1d ago

Ein Zensus findet nicht statt.

29

u/ken-der-guru Nordrhein-Westfalen 1d ago

Seeing the downvotes I’m guessing some people didn’t realize the joke you made with Article 5 of the Grundgesetz. (Eine Zensur findet nicht statt. / There shall be no censorship.)

9

u/mizinamo 15h ago

That is indeed what I was alluding to! I'm glad that you at least got it.

9

u/DurinLa 23h ago

Niemand hat die Absicht einen Zensus zu errichten

2

u/OneRegular378 10h ago

Der Zensus ist sicher.

•

u/mumpped 11m ago

In Munich I also got a Mietspiegel thing where you were you had to have a one-hour long phone call going through your contract and Nebenkostenabrechnung and details regarding your flat. It said you legally have to do it but it didn't say what fine you would have gotten if you didn't do it

65

u/ClemensLode Nordrhein-Westfalen 1d ago

mikrozensus.de redirects to the official https://erhebungsportal.estatistik.de
Maybe check if you can use the official link and enter your data there.

40

u/OkPackage7068 1d ago

No scam

32

u/Kilobyte22 16h ago

My girlfriend also received this, you'll have to do it and it will take considerable time (1-2 hours). There are also three more installments over the next year you will have to fill in. Have all your documents regarding living costs and income ready, as you will need them.

6

u/leopold0101 8h ago

You dont have to have anything ready, Just guesstimate, nobody can force you to put effort in this shit

7

u/YourCuntIsABot 6h ago

and later you cry because services are bad in your area because no one put any effort into it

great.

4

u/MrBagooo Bremen 5h ago

lol what? That's a bit of a stretch don't you think? The problems we have in Germany don't come from people not putting effort in filling out the Zensus survey.

2

u/leopold0101 6h ago

If they want effort they should pay me for the time spend

9

u/DerBusKommtGleich 16h ago

Nope, you have to answer..Have fun doing this 4 or 5 years in a row

16

u/canaanit 14h ago

Well, it's where all the fancy statistics come from that people love to throw around in debates, so every now and then we have to put some effort in to produce them :)

16

u/Tieger_2 22h ago

Kind of crazy that it's not a scam and you're legally mandated to do it

52

u/l2ulan United Kingdom 1d ago

I swear to god, it's impossible to just sit at home and not be bothered by anyone in this country.

45

u/mysterious_el_barto 1d ago

audibly laughed. every time i open my mailbox and it's empty i let a sigh of relief. no news is good news am i right?

•

u/Substantial-Sun5629 1h ago

I know what you mean, I am retired but all this BS I have to take care of is driving me nuts.

17

u/Longjumping-Pear-409 21h ago

The UK has a census every 10 years that's illegal to not answer so what are you even talking about

6

u/LL0RT_ Brandenburg 1d ago

No scan, but you are required to do this.

Nobody will control it if you pull information out of your ass tho :P

8

u/monkeypython 1d ago

Yeah, duh, its a picture not a scan. /s

3

u/OneRegular378 10h ago

The census is an important data source for our country's policies. Answer honestly please.

3

u/YourCuntIsABot 6h ago

these are the same kind of people who then complain that service xyz is bad or that there are too few schools or kindergardens near them

5

u/lukeskycoso Italy 1d ago

Unfortunately I was also randomly selected for the microcensus of Thuringia. From what I understood you have to answer or you'll get some fine. It's a pain in the ass, especially because the questions are very technical and there's no English version.

8

u/Kakapopo666 15h ago

You can do it online in German and English.

3

u/lukeskycoso Italy 11h ago

I couldn't find the English version in the one I had to do, I'll check better next time

2

u/Kakapopo666 6h ago

The erhebungsportal-website says:

The online questionnaire is available in both German and English. To change the language, click on the person icon in the top-right corner after logging in for the first time and select "English." If you are already in the questionnaire and wish to change the language, first click on the "Mein IDEV" or "Benutzerdaten" tab in the top navigation bar. Then, click on the person icon and select "English."

1

u/lukeskycoso Italy 6h ago

Good to know

1

u/Few_Figure4236 4h ago

Do you answer it via online survey or a phone call

1

u/lukeskycoso Italy 2h ago

I did it online

1

u/Hudute 2h ago

Why cant you do one minute of your own research? In the time it took you to pixelate this you could have figured that out on your own using machine translation and a google search. This is very obviously not a scam.

•

u/Advanced-Tomato-1889 21m ago

It’s just a question mate, and a politely asked one at that. Absolutely no reason to be rude.

0

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-25

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2

u/YourCuntIsABot 6h ago

Ich, wenn ich keine Ahnung habe, wofür es benötigt wird:

auch ich: "SCHEISS DEUTSCHLAND, NICHTS FUNKTIONIERT!!!"

1

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