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.

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