Police Caution Not To Abbreviate 2020 On Legal Documents

Police officials are warning people not to abbreviate the year 2020 on legal documents to avoid getting scammed.

On New Year’s Day the Millinocket Police Department in Penobscot County, Maine, provided a tip to avoid abbreviating the year 2020 to help against scammers.

In the post that has since gone viral, the police department Penobscot County posted the following:

The problem with abbreviating the year 2020 is that it could easily be altered and could be used against you. For example, scammers could easily manipulate a document dated "1/07/20" into "1/07/2000" or even "1/07/2021." This scam may also be applied to post-dated checks making an uncashed check active again.

The best solution to avoid being scammed would be to write out the full date on any legal document or check.

For example write out January 07, 2020, not: 1/07/20.

Stay alert and protect yourself by making sure you don’t leave any dates on legal documents open-ended, which may invite fraud.