We've now entered the year 2020—but don't abbreviate 2020 when signing your legal documents. Police have warned that anyone signing important documents or checks with an abbreviation of 2020, i.e."20," could put themselves at risk of fraud. They recommend writing out the date in full, as 2020, on legal documents and checks.By writing out the date as 01/01/20 , the date can be fraudulently changed to 2019, 2021, or any other date in this century.
But abbreviating 2020 to 20 means that a criminal could write two numbers after the 20 to imply that the document was dated before or after it actually was. Dusty Rhodes, Hamilton County Auditor, tweeted:"When writing the date in 2020, write the year in its entirety. It could possibly protect you and prevent legal issues on paperwork. Example: If you just write 1/1/20, one could easily change it to 1/1/2017 and now your signature is on an incorrect document."
Additionally, the East Millinocket Police Department echoed this advice and added some insight on why it's important in a Facebook status:"This is sound advice and should be considered when signing any legal or professional document. It could potentially save you some trouble down the road.