The new year has begun and with it comes new opportunities to protect yourself. This month’s security tip is unique to this particular new year and new decade: Do not abbreviate 2020.

Authorities are warning 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.

Here’s why:
By writing out the date as 01/01/20 (January 1, 2020), the date can be fraudulently changed to 2019, 2021, or any other date in this century. Those looking to exploit unsuspecting people can easily manipulate those numbers and leave people potentially vulnerable to fraud.

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. This date change can be used by scammers to try and cash an old check or forge an unpaid debt.

This is a problem to do specifically with the year 2020, as abbreviating 2019 as "19" could only be changed to a date in the 1900s and abbreviating 2018 as "18" could only be changed to a date in the 1800s.

There's no evidence yet that anyone has been scammed in this manner. But dating your documents with the year written out in full, is an easy precaution against fraudulent behavior.