Community Chat

[sidsmom]

I ran this by an old banker friend who is a Small Business Lender. 

He said...a lot of those scam alerts are kinda silly but this one?

Should be considered.

[sidsmom]

USA Today

Sarah Brookbank and Joel Shannon, USA TODAY NETWORK

The new year is giving scammers an easy way to forge documents, but you can protect yourself with an easy New Year's resolution: Stop abbreviating the year.

Why? This year's abbreviation is easily changeable and could be used against you. The concern is that scammers could easily manipulate a document dated "1/1/20" into "1/1/2000" or even "1/1/2021."

Writing out the full date "could possibly protect you and prevent legal issues on paperwork," according to Hamilton County, Ohio, Auditor Dusty Rhodes.

While it's early in the year for examples of this kind of fraud to emerge, the threat is real according to Ira Rheingold, the executive director of the National Association of Consumer Advocates.

In a message emailed to USA TODAY Thursday, Rheingold said scammers could use the method to establish an unpaid debt or to attempt to cash an old check.

"Say you agreed to make payments beginning on 1/15/20. The bad guy could theoretically establish that you began owing your obligation on 1/15/2019, and try to collect additional $$$," Rheingold wrote.

In the future, post-dating could be a problem too. For example, a check dated "1/1/20" could become "1/1/2021" next year, possibly making the uncashed check active again, Rheingold wrote. A similar method could be used for debts that are past the statute of limits.

The solution is easy: There's no harm in writing the full date. Writing the month out can also help. 

Write this: January 15, 2020. Not this: 1/15/20.

Police have echoed the advice as well.

[proudlyfromNJ]

Someone on my towns FB posted this earlier today.

[jellyBEAN]

Good point. 

[SandySparkles]

This is something I hadn't given much thought to, but is an excellent bit of advice. Thank you so much for posting this very informative thread.

~~~All we need is LOVE💖

[insomniac2]

Thank you for this warning!

[beach-mom]

@sidsmom - Thank you SO MUCH for posting this! I always write my dates the European way, and I have since I was young. I would write today's date as 3 Jan 20. I will be really aware of writing the whole year out, and I will tell the rest of my family! 

[Lindsays Grandma]

@sidsmom ...What an amazing service you did by posting that warning.  I just hope a whole lot more people read it and abide by it.  

[Diva on The Q]

Good point! 

[millieshops]

Also on local news here this morning. 

Even i can see lots of ways this could be a problem. —-  now that someone else pointed it out!