Don't abbreviate 2020. It's for your own good

[NurseJackie]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/04/us/dont-abbreviate-2020-date-fraud-trnd/index.html

Not only do we have to break the habit of writing 2019, when we really mean 2020, but the dawn of a new decade also creates a unique opportunity for scammers, says Ira Rheingold, executive director for the National Association of Consumer Advocates.
...
When the year 2020 is abbreviated on official forms and documents, those looking to exploit unsuspecting people can easily manipulate those numbers and leave people potentially vulnerable to fraud.

For example, a document dated 1/4/20 can easily be changed to 1/4/2021 by adding two numbers at the end.

There are several ways that could pose a problem. Rheingold cited the example of a stale check, or one that was written more than six months or so ago. If you have an old check lying around that's dated 1/4/20 and someone finds it, they could add "21" to the end of that date, and voila, the check is no longer stale.

Or, let's say you sign a credit contract — an agreement between a borrower and a lender — and date it 1/4/20. Say you then miss a month or two of payments, and the lender goes to collect the debt that's owed. Theoretically, they could add "19" to the end of that date and argue that you owe more than a year's worth of payments, Rheingold said.

MORE AT LINK...

[getagrip_already]

1. meh, how many people actually write checks any more?

Or even sign contracts of any kind?

If you don't own a car, a home, or work in a "registered" field, why would you even need to sign or date anything?

You don't even need to "sign" and date web based documents, like to get a credit card. You can't change the date.

I can't remember the last time I wrote a physical check. I haven/t purchased a new car since 2009. My last job change was in 2010. When I got my newly minted real id drivers license, I don't remember a date field I had to fill in. All of my credit cards were applied for on-line. I haven't been in a real bank in years.

What am I missing?

[marble falls]

4. What you're missing is its not just checks, its any kind of legal document.

[getagrip_already]

6. like what?

I already mentioned cars, homes, jobs, credit cards.......

The brutal truth is we are no longer a sign and date economy.

Now if you are in real estate, the law, medicine, or very, very wealthy you sign/date things every day.

I'm a tech professional, own a house, car, boat, and do lots of travel. I rarely sign and date anything. It's a vestige of the oldie times.

[ehrnst]

11. One needs to initial and date documents such as wills,

refinancing documents, any loan paperwork, contracts for event venues, HIPAA paperwork, documents for minors, etc.

Not simply the "very wealthy."

The "brutal truth" here is that your experience is not the measure of what everyone else's is.

Especially as a tech professional. Having been a tech writer, I speak from experience that many "tech professionals" have a dimissive view of those who aren't using the technology that they use, and have little to no understanding or respect for anyone who haven't bought in to the technology that benefits them. They view those people as "not worth the time" to communicate with or serve.

[marble falls]

12. I don't know where you live but where I live we still sign and date documents ...

tech professionals aren't everybody and by a long shot. Thank goodness.

[ehrnst]

13. Indeed.

[getagrip_already]

16. LUDDITE!!! (snark)...

I get it. I'm 61. I've been around. I've done all of that.

It isn't needed any more. Most important documents are reviewed by lawyers, and copies get kept. Most trivial things are done electronically. Anything in the middle, keep a copy.

Is it a big deal to remember to write a full date? Of course not.

Is it a good idea. Of course it is.

Is it a big deal? No. Don't sweat the small things. Worry more about the language in that agreement you blithely click through to get to you subscription to show stories like "Goats of Missouri and why they wait outside porn stores".

[marble falls]

19. Snark, my Aunt Fannie's tutu. A Power of Attorney would be a ripe for this fraud. That could ...

be a VERY big deal.

[getagrip_already]

23. Why would you sign a poa and not keep a copy? n/t

[marble falls]

26. My sister in law is having trouble over settling her husband's estate right now ...

over the original will she has and a copy of it her step daughter has. No doubt SiL will win, its just costing the estate and requires paying two lawyers out of the estate.

The step daughter used the copy to have a security box at the bank drilled out with the copy and SiS had the keys. It took an attorney to sort it out.

The only thing in the box? A third copy of the will.

[brush]

28. WTH? What is wrong with warning people to write 1/15/2020 instead...

1/15/20? What and why are you going on about a harmless, helpful tip?

[getagrip_already]

33. nothing.....

Like you say its a harmless tip. Not especially important, but not harmful.

[ehrnst]

20. Again, you are not the metric by which all people are measured.

It's not about you and your particular judgement of anyone else who doesn't agree with you. You keep missing that.

It's an outlook based in a particular type of privilege that I have experienced firsthand when I was a tech writer full time.

For instance when has evaulated an audience for a piece of software, and their needs and a developer rolls their eyes at the results and wonders aloud why the hell we are bothering with these idiots...

"Who the hell doesn't know what a partial string query is, and why should I rewrite an error message to explain it to these morons?"

See also:

"Who the hell doesn't have a drivers license? Who the hell doesn't have a bank account? Who the hell doesn't have a credit card? Why should we let these idiots vote?"

It's not really a productive way of looking at the world when one actually cares what goes on in it.

[getagrip_already]

21. thats not me....

I'm not a coder. There are far more areas of tech than coding. And it has nothing to do with this.

I've also been a commercial fisherman. Didn't need to sign a lot there either. Except to the feds. And they didn't much care.

[ehrnst]

40. I didn't say that you were.

It was an example within the tech industry.

Is that clearer?

[UniteFightBack]

32. When you go to withdraw from your retirement account you may need to fill out some forms. nt

[ehrnst]

5. You are "missing" that you are not the metric that all people are held to.

Similar "How many...or who doesn't....." arguments have been deployed to support voter suppression laws, "Who doesn't have a bank account/Driver's license/credit card/government issued ID.... and so on.

Many people do still write checks.

You're welcome.

[getagrip_already]

8. not missing it at all.....

If you have checks, you have a debit card. Most will use that. Some people still go down to the electric company office and pay in cash.

More power to them.

[ehrnst]

9. You missed that many people do write checks.

Instead of going down to the electric company to pay in cash.

You're welcome.

[jberryhill]

15. So what

So what if I write you a check and you change the date to next year.

The only possible consequence - and this is rare these days - is that you won’t get your money for a year.

[marble falls]

24. Respectfully, jberry, you're missing the forest for a specific tree. It isn't even about pulling ...

it off so much as putting it into the air to get it straightened out. Its not just checks. You're an attorney, you deal with a lot of other people's documents that are required to be signed and dated. Sure you can sort it out, but someone is getting charged by the hour and might have to go to court get relief.

[jberryhill]

29. Couple of things

If you aren’t keeping a copy of documents you’ve signed, then you have a bigger problem.

I can’t really remember the last time that I saw anyone sign a contract without electronically exchanging copies.

In one of the examples above - involving credit or a loan of some kind - it’s going to be pretty obvious when the underlying financial transaction (i.e. the actual exchange of money) took place.

One of the things that your recent hero Michael Avenatti is going to ultimately go to jail for, incidentally, is changing the date on an agreement which one of his clients signed. Again, it was obvious he’d done so, since the actual settlement payment was made to Avenatti’s account while Avenatti was pretending it wasn’t due yet.

Attempts to forge terms in agreements don’t tend to work out well.

Last year, the digits “19” could of course have been altered to any date in the last century, but I don’t recall the same flurry of nonsense.

[marble falls]

31. It doen't have to be widespread, it only has to happen to you, ...

Fudging dates is a common sort of fraud. It isn't a matter of simply comparing a correct copy against an altered original, its a matter of proving it legally: hearings, trials, lawyers, experts, affidavits etc.

We still use documents around here. We carry paper powers of attorney not thumb drives.

[marble falls]

14. Leases, wills, bills of sale, notarized statements, affidavits, letters of intent ....

and the list goes on.

[getagrip_already]

18. don't you keep a copy of those?

Signed and dated by both parties? Wouldn't that show they altered the document?

The only risk is for documents you sign and don't keep a copy of. Stupid in any legal sense.

For checks? If someone is going to go that far out of their way to screw you, you are going to get screwed eventually.

Yes, it's a good idea to fully date a document.

No, it's not a huge deal if you don't.

[ehrnst]

22. "Stupid in any legal sense."

That's certainly one way of communicating with someone in a respectful way that makes it clear you care what they actually think.

[getagrip_already]

25. wasn't aimed at you...

Just commenting on that practice. Anyone who signs an important legal document or contract would be foolish to not keep a copy. It is your legal right.

[ehrnst]

39. Doesn't matter if it wasn't "to me."

It's still condescending and won't get your statements much respect.

But do go on.

[jberryhill]

30. Okay, let's take the lease example

Rather than simply reciting a list of documents in a Gish Gallop, explain how this works with a lease.

You sign a lease and move in during February 2020. You change the address on your driver’s license, get your utilities changed over, and start receiving other mail there. You also pay the security deposit and your first months rent. These payments, of course, are reflected in your bank statement.

What is the scenario where your landlord derives some kind of advantage by changing the date on your lease to 2021? Because your landlord wants you to have free rent for the year?

Don’t just say “a lease” and pretend you’ve provided a relevant example.

Explain the scenario where someone gains an advantage by forging the date on a lease (of which you haven’t kept a copy), for which there is going to be a whole world of evidence about when performance actually began.

[GeorgeGist]

37. You're free to ignore the advice.

[marble falls]

2. People will game anything, and I think paying attention is a good idea. Thanks!

[George II]

3. Good thinking and advice. I got into the habit years ago of writing out the entire year...

...instead of just two digits. I guess working during the ol' "Y2K" era taught me that.

It won't happen very often, but there are scammers out there just looking for a way to cheat. Sad, because they work harder at that than they would if they got a legitimate job.

[mcar]

7. Good advice

[Maeve]

17. It may not be needed, but it couldn't hurt

https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/01/03/avoid-writing-year-2020-as-20/?collection-id=229487

Many critics found the subject of these warnings rather unlikely, however, noting that many documents are vulnerable to fraudulent alteration by a variety of means regardless of how any dates they include might be rendered. And in such cases, various forms of evidence can usually be marshaled to prove the alteration and thwart its purpose.

Others believe the maxim about “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” still holds true: scammers generally seek easy targets, so any simple action that can potentially discourage their efforts — including writing out the full date — will usually be easier and more effective than trying to undo damage after the fact.

Whether to follow this advice is an exercise left to the reader: It may not help much (if at all), but neither will it hurt.

[dalton99a]

27. Or fill in the blank:

[central scrutinizer]

34. Similarly, don't write IRS on a check

It's simple to add a three lines to change the I into an M, add an RS., and MRS. Mary Smith can cash your check.

[NurseJackie]

35. Ooo... that's devilish and sneaky.

I write "United States Treasury" on my tax-return checks.

[Gothmog]

36. My lawfirm just issued a warning on this

[NurseJackie]

38. Looks like the danger is real. Even if not widespread (at this early date).

Thanks for the confirmation.