6 ms·

I don't see what's threatening or intimidating about "Have your friend Melanie call me." Seems pretty innocuous to me. Could you buy Facebook ads that target t

by jbail 16y ago

I don't see what's threatening or intimidating about "Have your friend Melanie call me." Seems pretty innocuous to me. Could you buy Facebook ads that target the person's friends? All the data you need is there for the debt collector's taking. You wouldn't need to intimidate anyone or say anything hateful. The ad could be as simple as, "Get $5 in Facebook Credits. Have Your Friend Melanie Call Me." Not sure if that ad would actually work, just thinking out loud. From Facebook's perspective, you don't want people to stop creating accounts (or quit using them) because of fear of debt collectors, but debt collectors are a business that could provide them a revenue stream. It's already a known fact that some employers check potential hires on Facebook and I don't think that's had much of a chilling effect on the growth of their social network.

marcusbooster 16y ago
Anything that makes Facebook unpleasant is bad for business because it keeps users from logging in. You don't see anything slimy with contacting your friends and family to embarrass you? They are threatening your reputation with friends, family, and employers.
- jemfinch 16y ago
  They can't share any details about the debt or even that there is a debt. All they're allowed to say is "Have your friend contact me." Is that what constitutes threatening a reputation these days?
  - irinotecan 16y ago
    What about the annoyance factor? "Hey why are these strangers contacting me and asking me to send you messages to contact them?! Do I look like your personal secretary??"
    - jemfinch 16y ago
      Yes, I agree there's an annoyance factor. In all honesty, what do you think should happen when someone isn't paying a debt they owe? Can you think of a reasonable way to get hold of someone who's refusing your phone calls that doesn't involve potentially annoying friends and family?
      - zavulon 16y ago
        Contact them threatening to sue. If they still don't respond, sue. Getting the person's social circle involved is low.
        jemfinch 16y ago
        As mentioned above, attempts to contact them have failed. Now what do you do?
        zavulon 16y ago
        Sue
        jemfinch 16y ago
        How do you sue someone you can't contact? What if the costs involved in bringing suit exceed the amount owed?
        redrobot5050 16y ago
        Once you file suit, it's the process server's job to get ahold of you. They have less restrictions. And you can tack on court costs to the suit you bring -- and then use the grievance you win to garnish their wages. It sounds easier than it looks, but that's how you get your money as a debt collector. The ones you can't find are probably just as like to be no shows in court. Once you have a greviance, it's easy to garnish. All that involves is contacting their employer.
        16y ago
  - ubernostrum 16y ago
    They can't share any details about the debt or even that there is a debt. They can until someone takes them to court over it. Having inherited the phone number of someone who owed money, and dealt with the fallout from that, I can personally testify that collectors do not consider themselves bound by the law unless/until a court fines them some obscene amount of money.
- jbail 16y ago
  I absolutely see something slimy about it. I just don't think it's embarrassing, threatening or intimidating to say, "Have your friend Melanie call me" --- which was the example from the article.
HeyLaughingBoy 16y ago
Many people are Facebook friends of their employers, churches, or other organizations. Now imagine you owe (or at least a collector thinks you owe) $362 for an unpaid car loan and your employer gets a call from a known debt collector asking them to tell you to return their call. Immediate privacy violation! That's why the FTC doesn't allow debt collectors to share that information publicly. Now, unlike a phone call at random, in the case of a Facebook contact, it would be pretty easy to figure out that the stranger who messaged you is trying to collect on a debt.
- jbail 16y ago
  I agree 100% with the privacy concerns you've raised. My question was/is: Is buying an ad on Facebook a privacy violation? Facebook gives you all the data you need to use people's friends to sell stuff. This is what makes advertising on Facebook attractive to a great degree. If you're trying to reclaim a debt, could you not buy an ad to target someone's friends? Especially if that ad is simply "Have your friend call me." There is no mention of debt. No shaming in a public forum. It's just a simple message. Is that illegal?
  - mseebach 16y ago
    Yes. You're a debt collector, and you need to speak to Melanie. Unless Melanie is looking for a job as a debt collector, chances are she has unpaid debt. Even if you try to conceal where you're from, short of lying, you can't hide it if someone asks "Uh, why? Who are you?". Boom - you've violated Melanie's privacy. And what if you've yourself been "contacted" by an agency in that way, and you now see those ads for your friend?
- iwr 16y ago
  By the time the debt collectors are called in (3 or more months overdue), the chances are already more that the money would never be paid. These people have a bad reputation, but debtors too are reneging on a contract. It's terrible to be a business owner (not just credit-related) and to have one of your customers stiff you on a bill.
YooLi 16y ago
'I don't see what's threatening or intimidating about "Have your friend Melanie call me." Seems pretty innocuous to me.' It doesn't take too many of those 'innocuous' messages for someone to figure out what they are. If your friends suddenly get 15 messages from strangers asking them to have you call, it's pretty clear what it is. I get calls from debt collectors all the time. The problem is it's not me they are looking for; I just happen to have the same fairly unique name and live in the same city. I know it's not me because it's for a credit card debt from when I was 7. I really don't want my friends all getting messages from strangers asking me to call them. Sure, the example cited in the article was pleasant sounding, but I can guarantee you they will quickly degrade into threatening/harassing messages if Facebook gives debt collectors the signal that it's okay to use their service. I know because I deal with them on the phone all the time yelling, calling me a liar, etc. when I try to explain it isn't me they are looking for.
- RK 16y ago
  I had a similar problem when I got a new number a few years ago. I would get calls, usually very early in the morning asking for someone else. Even though I would say they had the wrong number they would just continue to call back day after day. The number was from a debt collection agency.
  - nkassis 16y ago
    I have this problem right now and it's pissing me off. I'm starting to wonder if I can do anything against them. The guy doesn't even have the same name as me. He hasn't had this number for years yet I still get calls.
    - andrewbadera 16y ago
      You can press harassment charges, and potentially litigate civilly.
    - lusis 16y ago
      Under the fair debt collection act, all you have to do is tell them to stop calling you. Seriously. Just say something to the effect of "under the rights granted by the fair debt collection act, I'm informing you that you are calling the wrong number, I am not the person you're looking for and to please never contact me again" if they do, you can sue them for up to 10k for violating it. You have to do it with each distinct debt collector though. Check clarkhoward.com for more information.

by jbail 16y ago

marcusbooster 16y ago

Anything that makes Facebook unpleasant is bad for business because it keeps users from logging in. You don't see anything slimy with contacting your friends and family to embarrass you? They are threatening your reputation with friends, family, and employers.

jemfinch 16y ago
They can't share any details about the debt or even that there is a debt. All they're allowed to say is "Have your friend contact me." Is that what constitutes threatening a reputation these days?
- irinotecan 16y ago
  What about the annoyance factor? "Hey why are these strangers contacting me and asking me to send you messages to contact them?! Do I look like your personal secretary??"
  - jemfinch 16y ago
    Yes, I agree there's an annoyance factor. In all honesty, what do you think should happen when someone isn't paying a debt they owe? Can you think of a reasonable way to get hold of someone who's refusing your phone calls that doesn't involve potentially annoying friends and family?
    - zavulon 16y ago
      Contact them threatening to sue. If they still don't respond, sue. Getting the person's social circle involved is low.
      - jemfinch 16y ago
        As mentioned above, attempts to contact them have failed. Now what do you do?
        zavulon 16y ago
        Sue
        jemfinch 16y ago
        How do you sue someone you can't contact? What if the costs involved in bringing suit exceed the amount owed?
        redrobot5050 16y ago
        Once you file suit, it's the process server's job to get ahold of you. They have less restrictions. And you can tack on court costs to the suit you bring -- and then use the grievance you win to garnish their wages. It sounds easier than it looks, but that's how you get your money as a debt collector. The ones you can't find are probably just as like to be no shows in court. Once you have a greviance, it's easy to garnish. All that involves is contacting their employer.
        16y ago
- ubernostrum 16y ago
  They can't share any details about the debt or even that there is a debt. They can until someone takes them to court over it. Having inherited the phone number of someone who owed money, and dealt with the fallout from that, I can personally testify that collectors do not consider themselves bound by the law unless/until a court fines them some obscene amount of money.
jbail 16y ago
I absolutely see something slimy about it. I just don't think it's embarrassing, threatening or intimidating to say, "Have your friend Melanie call me" --- which was the example from the article.

HeyLaughingBoy 16y ago

Many people are Facebook friends of their employers, churches, or other organizations. Now imagine you owe (or at least a collector thinks you owe) $362 for an unpaid car loan and your employer gets a call from a known debt collector asking them to tell you to return their call. Immediate privacy violation! That's why the FTC doesn't allow debt collectors to share that information publicly. Now, unlike a phone call at random, in the case of a Facebook contact, it would be pretty easy to figure out that the stranger who messaged you is trying to collect on a debt.

jbail 16y ago
I agree 100% with the privacy concerns you've raised. My question was/is: Is buying an ad on Facebook a privacy violation? Facebook gives you all the data you need to use people's friends to sell stuff. This is what makes advertising on Facebook attractive to a great degree. If you're trying to reclaim a debt, could you not buy an ad to target someone's friends? Especially if that ad is simply "Have your friend call me." There is no mention of debt. No shaming in a public forum. It's just a simple message. Is that illegal?
- mseebach 16y ago
  Yes. You're a debt collector, and you need to speak to Melanie. Unless Melanie is looking for a job as a debt collector, chances are she has unpaid debt. Even if you try to conceal where you're from, short of lying, you can't hide it if someone asks "Uh, why? Who are you?". Boom - you've violated Melanie's privacy. And what if you've yourself been "contacted" by an agency in that way, and you now see those ads for your friend?
iwr 16y ago
By the time the debt collectors are called in (3 or more months overdue), the chances are already more that the money would never be paid. These people have a bad reputation, but debtors too are reneging on a contract. It's terrible to be a business owner (not just credit-related) and to have one of your customers stiff you on a bill.

YooLi 16y ago

'I don't see what's threatening or intimidating about "Have your friend Melanie call me." Seems pretty innocuous to me.' It doesn't take too many of those 'innocuous' messages for someone to figure out what they are. If your friends suddenly get 15 messages from strangers asking them to have you call, it's pretty clear what it is. I get calls from debt collectors all the time. The problem is it's not me they are looking for; I just happen to have the same fairly unique name and live in the same city. I know it's not me because it's for a credit card debt from when I was 7. I really don't want my friends all getting messages from strangers asking me to call them. Sure, the example cited in the article was pleasant sounding, but I can guarantee you they will quickly degrade into threatening/harassing messages if Facebook gives debt collectors the signal that it's okay to use their service. I know because I deal with them on the phone all the time yelling, calling me a liar, etc. when I try to explain it isn't me they are looking for.

RK 16y ago
I had a similar problem when I got a new number a few years ago. I would get calls, usually very early in the morning asking for someone else. Even though I would say they had the wrong number they would just continue to call back day after day. The number was from a debt collection agency.
- nkassis 16y ago
  I have this problem right now and it's pissing me off. I'm starting to wonder if I can do anything against them. The guy doesn't even have the same name as me. He hasn't had this number for years yet I still get calls.
  - andrewbadera 16y ago
    You can press harassment charges, and potentially litigate civilly.
  - lusis 16y ago
    Under the fair debt collection act, all you have to do is tell them to stop calling you. Seriously. Just say something to the effect of "under the rights granted by the fair debt collection act, I'm informing you that you are calling the wrong number, I am not the person you're looking for and to please never contact me again" if they do, you can sue them for up to 10k for violating it. You have to do it with each distinct debt collector though. Check clarkhoward.com for more information.