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Debt Collectors and Social Media. Consumers Beware!

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As social media websites increasingly gain in popularity, industries have been working hard to take advantage of the information presented by the users in these social platforms. With Facebook having more than 500 million active users and Twitter having more than 150 million tweets per day, various industries are tapping into this plethora of information that is just one click of a mouse away.




One such industry that is taking advantage of all of this social media information is the debt collection industry. Debt collectors have a reputation for being tenacious and intrusive with regard to the means they employ when collecting on a debt. Debt collectors used to just call the debtors repeatedly at home or at work and even, at times, make a personal visit to the debtor. These days, however, debt collectors have become craftier in their ways to collect on a debt. Debt collectors are now using the information that debtors are displaying on social media platforms.


Debt collectors are finding social media platforms to provide them with an abundance of information such as where the debtors live and work, their lifestyle habits, spending habits, lists of family and friends, and determining whether the debtor has the financial ability to pay off their debt. Debtors are making it very easy for these harassing debt collectors to find out tons of personal information about them. As a result, debtors are now being harassed by these debt collection companies electronically through these social media platforms.



The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) was enacted in 1978 to promote fair debt collection practices and to prohibit abusive and deceptive practices of debt collection. Although the FDCPA has been revised over the years, the majority of the provisions and revisions were made before the existence of social media. More and more lawsuits are being filed against abusive debt collectors for harassing debtors via social media websites. It will be interesting to see how the FDCPA will be revised in order to address these issues and provide protection for debtors from harassment through social media and electronic communications.


If you are behind on your debt and/or you are being contacted by a debt collection company, make sure to limit the amount of personal information that you present on social media platforms. Know that debt collectors do use the internet to obtain personal information about you.


If you have been a victim of abusive or deceptive debt collection practices, you should speak with an experienced consumer attorney who can help you through this stressful time. Our experienced attorneys will help stop the abusive debt collector harassment and can even get you monetary compensation up to $1,000.


If you would like to speak with an experienced consumer attorney, call the attorneys at Shainfeld & Anvar today at for a FREE CASE EVALUATION or visit us at My Consumer Law Center.