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Very interesting article on debt collectors getting info from facebook. Could be a heads up to expats from other countries if this catches on.

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/148083

Article states:

Be very careful what you say on Facebook, MySpace, or any other social network site -- especially if you owe money to the government.

That's the lesson being offered by the Wall Street Journal this week, whch reports on numerous cases where tax collectors have used information that people have posted about themselves on social networking sites in order to track them down and collect on tax debts.

Just about any kind of update can be used against you, it seems. One deejay posted on his MySpace page that he'd be working at an upcoming party. Agents decided to crash it to collect their cash. Another man announced he was moving back to his home town and published the name of his new boss. Finding him to collect on an old tax bill was a matter of ease.

All it really takes for the IRS to find most people on Facebook and the like is a few minutes of time, since searching for a user's name is painfully easy and results are usually good. And if Facebook and MySpace turn up empty, there's always Google. A quick search using only the most basic of information about a person will usually turn up a gold mine of information about them, often including employment web sites where their name may be listed as a member of the staff -- all the easier to hit them with a new tax bill.

At least one official says there are rules about how far the tax man can go to find you: In Nebraska, "agents are not allowed to 'friend' someone using false information," for example. But anything posted publicly -- which is the default for anything posted on MySpace -- can be used against you in the quest to collect on your tax bill.

IRS could also use this if they find out about it.

By the way, if there are any US expats out there that have not filed an income tax return you should know that due to the economy IRS is looking at people very closely. If you haven't filed a return in the past, IRS was sending out notice that you do so, but they are also saying that those who have not done so for several years the under $85,000 tax free allowance will not apply and hence when you do file you will be responsible for federal tax on every dollar earned. You just don't know where BIG BROTHER will show up now.

make your fb profile unsearchable, and you should be good.

so pay your taxes!!

Just don't be a member of these networks and you'll be fine ^__*

catalyst wrote:Just don't be a member of these networks and you'll be fine ^__*

...including dubaiforums.....

newb flame war starting??

taking bets on who will still be here in November...(oh, forgot, no betting here, hey right....)

and then you had ppl screaming why was facebook blocked by etisalat.

People should be free to say what they want on FB or MySpace (within the bounds of religious and moral good sense), it's up to them if they want to incriminate themselves. Big brother Etisalat shoud not be my nanny thanks....!

Life would become boring for most of the people if common sence applied)))

You said it girl, got to live a little, we only pass this way once and are soon in the ground (or up a chimney, depending on your preference for disposal.