Debt Collectors Take to Social Media

(Baltimore Sun) — When you post your whereabouts on Facebook or tweet that you’ve come into a windfall or new job, it’s not just your closest 100 friends who care.  Debt collectors are using social media sites to track those who owe money.  “It’s just like debt collectors using the Yellow Pages,” says Mark Schiffman, spokesman for ACA International, a debt collectors’ trade association. “It’s another resource.”  Social media have become a public confessional as consumers plugged into MySpace, LinkedIn and other sites post all sorts of information about themselves, from their job prospects to spending habits. A lot of that information is available for the world to see — and in debt collection, public information is fair game.

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