Can Debt Collectors Harass You on Social Media?
In 2025, the average person spends almost two and a half hours a day on social media. From the young to the old, many of us use social platforms to stay connected with friends and family, learn about current events and more.
Amongst the many downsides to social media, one is that it can help debt collectors stay in touch with us. Debt collectors — people or companies that try to collect overdue debt — don’t have much success contacting people by phone anymore, since many of us don’t answer unsolicited calls. But social media gives them plenty of opportunities.
Are debt collectors allowed to reach out on social media? Unfortunately, it is indeed legal for them to send you private messages online. However, it is always illegal for them to harass you.
Is it legal for a debt collector to harass you online?
Debt collectors who use social media to harass someone are in clear violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). This act also prohibits “false, deceptive, or misleading practices.”
According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), these behaviors are off-limits:
- Harassing you with repeated messages
- Using obscene language
- Threatening to do harm or violence
- Lying about how much you owe
- Making false legal threats
- Posting public information about your debt
Unfortunately this doesn’t stop some debt collectors. Certain agents will seemingly stop at nothing to get your money. Some are even known for impersonating friends of the debtor and reaching out to the debtor’s friends or family members to get information.
Other red flags for harassment
Debt collectors have been known to try a variety of dirty tricks to access debtors on social media. Here are some go-to moves to look out for:
- Fake profiles: The most common method used on social media is creating fake profiles. Before accepting any friend requests, take a look at the account and see if its suspicious. For example, if the person only has a couple of friends, no posts, or no followers.
- Posting hurtful comments: If their DMs are unsuccessful, the collector might try to post public comments about you and your debt that are meant to embarrass you. This tactic is used to force people to pay out of humiliation, but similar to falsifying a profile, is illegal.
- Soliciting friends: Debt collectors might attempt to connect with your friends in an attempt to gain access to you. However, debt collectors usually need your permission to disclose information about your debt to anyone other than you.
What are debt collectors allowed to do?
When it comes to social media, debt collectors are allowed to send you friend requests, and they’re allowed to communicate with you privately about your debt. In other words, sending you DMs is legal.
However, they’re required to identify themselves as debt collectors when they reach out. Plus, they have to give you what the CFPB calls “a simple way to opt out” of receiving more messages from them on the social media platform where they contacted you.
How can I protect myself?
The federal government has set up a variety of processes to help consumers protect themselves against malicious debt collectors. Here’s what you can do is a debt collector is harassing you:
- Write a letter: Send a letter to the debt collector requesting that they stop contacting you on social media. Make sure you do not confirm that you’re the person responsible for the debt until you verify the details on your own.
- Check your credit reports: As soon as you write the letter, visit AnnualCreditReport.com to pull your free credit reports and confirm whether or not you owe the debt. If you notice a debt on a report that isn’t yours, file a dispute immediately with the credit bureau. For further help reading your credit reports and determining how to deal with collections, you can also schedule an appointment with an NFCC-certified credit counselor.
- File a complaint: If the collector keeps sending you messages on social media, the next step is to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, the CFPB and your State Attorney’s office. Each complaint goes on record, and if enough complaints are filed a lawsuit will likely be filed against the collector.
To further protect yourself, make sure to update your privacy settings on social media. For example, on Facebook you can enable a setting that allows you to review all posts you’re tagged in before they appear on your page.
One of the best ways to deter debt collectors on any social media platform is by setting your accounts to private, so that only your friends and family can see your account information. Once you do, take a look at your friends or followers to make sure they’re people you actually know.
Lauralynn Schueckler is the Online Marketing Specialist at Advantage Credit Counseling Service. She is the author for Advantage CCS’s Blog called Dollars & Sense. Advantage Credit Counseling Service is a member of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. Contact Advantage Credit Counseling at 866.699.2227.
Views expressed are the personal views of the author, and do not represent the views of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, its employees, its members, or its clients.
