For many of us abbreviating the year on documents may be normal but this time round could result in severe consequences and could result in people risking being victims of fraud. Abbreviating the year 2020 will give scammers a chance to potentially take advantage of your forms and documents. Documents with a date such as 06/01/20 can have extra numbers added to the end which could put you at risk from being a victim of fraud. Numbers can be added to make the date an earlier date or a later date.
An example of an earlier date could be on a contractor legal document, if the date on the contract says 6/1/20 adding 19 at the end the date will then read 6/1/2019 which could then be used against you, it could be a contract agreement of some sort.
An example of a later date could be on a bank cheque, the date may read 6/1/20 meaning the cheque is not valid as it has an old date, however adding 21 at the end the date will read 6/1/2021 which means the cheque no longer has an old date on and could put you at risk of financial fraud.
At the moment there isn’t anything to say you should or shouldn’t abbreviate the year 2020 but we strongly recommend you not to in order to stay safe. Scammers are always on the look out for new ways of scamming people and making money and we should do everything we can to stay safe.
