Harassment tool: Collection agencies using Facebook to embarrass debtors

 

WHAT: Melanie Beacham of St. Petersburg, Fla., started receiving phone calls from relatives — all linked on her Facebook page — who were worried about car payments she missed while on medical leave from work.


WHAT HAPPENED NEXT: Beacham has apparently become the first person to file a lawsuit seeking to ban a loan company from using social-networking websites to contact friends and family members about a debt.

WHY IT’S OUTRAGEOUS: Facebook is a powerful new weapon used increasingly by debt collectors and divorce lawyers to trigger panic and embarrassment by harassing someone’s family and friends.

Daily OutrageFacebookOpinionOther Opinion

If you find our journalism valuable and relevant, please consider joining our Examiner membership program.
Find out more at www.sfexaminer.com/join/
Previous story
Daily Outrage: Contractors bill New Jersey $27 per light bulb
Next story
Unionizing TSA employees compromises security

Just Posted

Cities including San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley are calling for large grocery and drug store chains to pay employees hazard pay for working during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Shutterstock)
SF proposes $5 hazard pay law for grocery, drug store workers

San Francisco may soon join the growing number of cities requiring large… Continue reading

Hikers walk along a closed stretch of Twin Peaks Boulevard on Friday, Jan. 22, 2021. (Kevin N. Hume/S.F. Examiner)
SFMTA board to vote on future of Twin Peaks Boulevard

The proposal would keep Burnett Avenue gate closed to vehicles, open Portola Drive

Kindergarten teacher Jennifer Klein collects crayons from students in the classroom at Lupine Hill Elementary School on Monday, Nov. 9, 2020 in Calabasas, California. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times/TNS)
Newsom, legislators strike deal to reopen California schools

Taryn Luna and John Myers Los Angeles Times Gov. Gavin Newsom and… Continue reading

A sign about proposed development of the bluff at Thornton State Beach in Daly City on Friday, Feb. 26, 2021. (Kevin N. Hume/S.F. Examiner)
Retreat center proposed at popular state beach

Daly City residents oppose construction on ocean bluffs

City supervisors are calling for an expansion of free summer programs for elementary age kids. (Kevin N. Hume/S.F. Examiner)
Supervisors urge city to provide free summer programs for all SFUSD students

San Francisco supervisors on Monday announced a proposal to expand summer programs… Continue reading

Most Read