Why You Should Never Abbreviate 2020

It may be a new year, but scammers are still looking for ways to con you out of your money. Experts are warning of a new scam that involves changing the date on important documents.

Most of us are accustomed to abbreviating the date by using just the last two digits when we need to write it. While it was fine to do in the past, continuing this practice in 2020 can be problematic. With the two sets of digits that make up the new year being identical, abbreviating the date on documents opens us up to multiple scams.

First, let’s take a look at what happens if the date is changed to an earlier year. If a scammer gets their hands on a check that was made out to you and decides to backdate it, the check may no longer be valid. Similarly, if you signed a legal document or a contract this year and a scammer adds “19” to the end of the “20” you wrote to indicate the year, it now looks as if you signed this document in 2019. Consequently, your contract may no longer be valid. If this scam is pulled off on paperwork for an outstanding debt, your debt will now appear to be overdue.

The other way this scam can be executed is for the date to be changed to a future year. To pull this off, criminals will change your “20” to “2021” or even later. If someone signed a document agreeing to start paying you for services you rendered in 2020, they can make it appear as if they don’t owe you any money until next year. Also, if you’ve neglected to pay a debt that is already past the statute of limitations, a scammer can modify the year on the relevant documents to make it appear as if you are still accountable for the debt.

The 2020 scam is easy to avoid. Simply add this to your list of New Year’s resolutions: Don’t abbreviate the year. Train yourself to write out “2020” in its entirety when signing important paperwork of any kind.

Your Turn: Can you think of any other ways scammers might manipulate a date to their benefit? Tell us about it in the comments.