The Downside of Social Networking

I have clients who had substantial financial difficulties in the past, but are working their way out of them. In some cases, they are working two jobs, spending little, and are just beginning to catch up, but are still being bothered by collection agencies calling all the time. Although they tell the callers not to call, many still do, knowing that the maximum fine under the Fair Debt Collection Act (“FDCA”) is only $1000, no matter how much they harass someone, and no matter what difficulty they cause. This seemed to have been helped with the judicious use of Caller ID and call blocking, when a new wave of calls began.

Beginning in the last few months, they began receiving calls from one or more collection agencies they never heard of. The agencies never even bothered to call at home, only at work. One of the jobs one client works was only begun in the last few months, and few people really know about it, but they made the mistake of listing it on their LinkedIn page. Now, the collection agencies are scanning Social Media sites and finding where debtors, or people with the same name, work, and calling there. Since the client I mentioned does not have their own private telephone number at work, they are now getting messages from their company operator that “——–“ called and would not say what it was about, just that it was a private business matter; everyone knows what that translates as.

In addition to being embarrassing, the employer does not like their operators being bothered with these calls. Next time you place information about your workplace on a Social Media site, keep this story in mind and, perhaps, save yourself some difficulty.