Recently the East Millinocket Police Department put out a warning on why you should write out the full year on your legal and professional documents.

Many of us often short hand our dates when were write such as “12/1/19” or “3.1.20” but it’s best if you write out the full year of “2020” at the end of your dates so “3.1.2020” would be ideal.

This is because someone could alter your date on your document to reflect a different date, let’s say “3.1.2021” It’s easy to add on two additional numbers which could make those documents invalid.  CNN recently shared how scammers may use these abbreviated dates in this article.

It’s difficult enough for us to start writing a new year at the end of our dates but this little extra step could save you some headaches later on.  Of course, this could be done with any date but it’s a good reminder for us to be mindful when we are filling out paperwork.

Stay tuned for an announcement on our 2020 Free Shred Day Events – where you can securely shred your old documents!