THE NEW FACE OF TRACE
CAN WEBSITES LIKE FACEBOOK MAKE IT EASIER
TO TRACK DOWN PEOPLE WHO OWE YOU MONEY?

Andy Warhol's prediction that "in the future, everyone will have their fifteen minutes of fame" seems truer every day. With the advent of social media, almost everyone can create a following.

When it comes to collecting debts, professionals have been using this trend to their advantage. Collections guru and {see} contributor Michelle Dunn says that collections professionals are using web search engines to find debtors and that some are taking things a bit further. "I know one skiptracer who finds about 25% of his debtors through MySpace using their search capabilities and simply putting in their first name and their state," says Dunn.

If everyone wants to be the star of their own personal web reality show, so be it... but they better pay their bills. Increasingly skiptracing has moved into the realm of social media, searching sites like Facebook, MySpace and meta-search tools like Turboscout.com that let you search multiple search engines all at once.

"I could have done that." In this economic climate, it's easy for businesspeople to think "I could do a Google search, why should I pay a collections agency." But before you go dropping your agency, remember that using social media websites and search engines may not provide the full answers.

"It's not the first place you go when you're trying to find a debtor," says Dunn. "It's just a supplement on accounts that are really hard to find." Collections professionals are using these sites to narrow their focus and add detail to their searches for debtors.

"You don't always get information, it's a very low percentage," adds Dunn. "It's a good way to find supplemental information like a middle initial." A debtor's middle initial doesn't do you much good if you don't have other data about the debtor.

All in all, social media and search engines make the collector's job easier; the more data available to mine, the better. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go edit my Facebook profile.

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OVERCOMING THE NO CREDIT JITTERS

GET YOUR VOICE HEARD HAVE YOU EVER VISITED WASHINGTON, DC, OR YOUR STATE CAPITOL AND WITNESSED THE LEGISTLATIVE PROCESS? DO YOU READ OR HEAR NEWS REPORTS ABOUT LAWS THAT HAVE PASSED AND WONDERED 'HOW DID THEY COME UP WITH THIS'?

NOT-SO-RISKY BUSINESS

DECISIONS, DECISIONS ...