GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – The date of the new year could make people more susceptible to potential scams – if you don’t write it down in full.
“We have a unique situation this year with two recurring dates, 2020,” says Susan Bach of the Better Business Bureau.
Scammers are licking their chops as we begin the new decade. Consumers could get ripped off by something as simple as abbreviating the date.
“Write the full year out on any kind of legal document and don’t abbreviate the year to ’20,” Bach advises, “Scammers can easily modify that date, changing it to any date this century like 2018, 2019.”
Someone could add digits to make it a previous year – establishing an old, unpaid debt. It’s also possible to post dating to a later year, making an old, unpaid check active again.
“A lot of people said it could’ve happened last year. Somebody could’ve written 1999, but that would’ve been more noticeable at 20 years old. It would’ve been more easily caught.”
Anyone with concerns about how to avoid an issue with the date, dodge a scammer, or has a question about the legitimacy of a business should check out bbb.org.
