For an entire generation of college graduates facing a job market with nothing but tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt and frat party beer guts under their belts, the future is looking grim. Not only will your job at Bath & Body Works not be enough make your various loan payments, but now it looks like the people you owe money to are employing downright ugly strategies to get that money back from you.

5 Social Network Shaming

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Just like your brokeass cousin always looking for a handout and your disapproving grandma, debt collectors have figured out how difficult it is to hide on Facebook. And they're using it as well as other social media outlets for some old-fashioned harassin'.

Wait, what?

If you owe some money and are on Foursquare, debt collectors are tracking you. LinkedIn? Debt collectors are watching your employment status and sizing up your assets. Facebook? Those photos of you acting like a drunken idiot reminded them of how the money you're spending on those drinks could be put towards a payment plan. They'll be very glad to share those ideas with you ... on your wall.

www.cracked.com

How many of the people who "follow" you are actually following you?

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Debt collectors are so stoked about their newfound stalker networks that they even had the balls to brag about it.

Melanie Beacham and Tosha Sohns know a thing or two about debt collectors infiltrating social network pages. Beacham made the mistake of getting sick, having to take a medical leave from work, falling behind on her car payments and having friends and family on Facebook who blindly accepted friend requests from a mystery man named Jeff Happenstance. After dozens of harassing phone calls in which the caller ignored her pleas that she was temporarily out of work and would resume payments as soon as possible, several of her friends and family began receiving messages on their Facebook pages from their new friend:



Was the winky smiley face really necessary?

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Beacham filed a lawsuit against the collection agency.

Tosha Sohns, meanwhile, was treated to collection agency Bramacint who, despite a name that sounds like bro-speak, repeatedly used a caller ID spoofer to make it appear as though her mother-in-law was calling. The agency then used photos on her MySpace page to ascertain that she had a daughter. One of its employees proceeded to call her, claiming to be an investigator, and rhetorically asked her (presumably while doing a spot-on Hannibal Lecter impersonation), "Wouldn't it be terrible if something happened to your kids while the sheriff's department was taking you away?"