Debt Collectors Use Social Media to Track Consumers
When you’re behind on payments and have unpaid debts, you may be concerned about calls from debt collectors. In the age of the internet, however, it’s difficult to stay off the radar of debt collection agencies. And collection companies certainly use the internet as a tool to track your movements. Indeed, even when we think we’re keeping a low profile on Facebook or Twitter, it turns out that we may be making decisions in our private lives that become sources of information for debt collectors. According to a recent JD Supra article, consumers should know about ways they’re being monitored.
Facebook, Twitter, and Public Lives
Using social media means that at least some of your private life—depending on how you use platforms like Facebook and Twitter—will become accessible to others through the internet. To be sure, just the fact that you have a Facebook profile, a Twitter account, or even a Flickr photo-sharing page means that anyone can run an internet search for you and can see that you’re engaging in social media. Posts that you intend to be accessible only to family members or close friends simply are not private.
And when posts aren’t private, that means certain aspects of your life become accessible to debt collectors. Why would a collection company want to keep track of your social media presence? First and foremost, debt collectors want to know if you have assets that make it worth their time to try to collect a debt.
For instance, let’s say you recently bought a new sports car, and you posted photos on Facebook to share with your friends and family. You also added some photos of the vehicle to your Flickr photostream, and you tweeted about buying the car. Now, let’s say I’m a debt collector. I’m going to be looking for internet information about you, and I’ve just discovered that you leased a $60,000 car. How did I find out? I learned about your automobile purchase because I saw photos of it and mentions about it on social media. Now I know that you have some extra money, and I may be able to collect on that debt.
At the same time, however, don’t forget that you do have rights. Debt collectors are prohibited from creating a fake Facebook profile to “friend” you in order to access information, and debt collection companies cannot share information about your debts on public websites.
Credit Bureau Trigger Reports
Even if you’re not on social media websites and platforms, you could be doing other things that could alert a debt collector that you have money to spend. Most notably, the three credit bureaus—Equifax, Experian, and Transunion—can supply “trigger reports” to debt collectors. These reports let debt collections know if your circumstances change, based on a triggering event.
For example, a debt collector might learn some of the following information about you in a trigger report:
· You got a new job.
· You moved to a new address.
· You changed your phone number.
· Your credit score increased.
· You opened a new credit account.
· You paid off an installment loan.
How can you protect yourself from trigger reports? Most importantly, don’t update your personal information with a credit bureau. Typically, this kind of information—changes to your personal or professional life—will only provide that information to people and companies that you probably don’t want to have it in the first place.
It’s important to remember that the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) protects consumers from specific behaviors by debt collection companies. If you think you have been the victim of harassment, you should contact an experienced Chicago consumer protection lawyer to learn more about your rights.
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