Social media changing debt collection game

As technology continues to impact our lives more and more, there is one tool that debt collectors are using to track down those who owe money - social media. For those in the skip tracing field, websites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn can provide new resources for trying to find information about those who owe money. According to many social media experts, clues to people's whereabouts and other activities are often available through this channel. "We often need to locate or investigate people and routinely use social media sites," said Thomas J. Simeone, a lawyer from Washington, D.C., in an interview with CreditCards.com. "A quick search on Google usually turns up someone's page, which may have their current hometown and other identifying information to help you locate them - employer, school, date of birth (with or without year), family members. All of this information can then be used to locate someone - either by itself or in conjunction with other sites." And while the tool is an important new way to get information, there are laws set up to protect against harassing tactics. The Fair Debt Collections Practices Act states that those tracking people down for debts owed must not use deceptive practices when going after the money owed.