Woman sues over alleged MySpace threat
by Frank Jovine on 04/08/2009 in Internet, Odd Stuff
MySpace makes it in the news once again, but not because of wrong doing, but what a collection agency did.
A woman who claims a collection agency seeking the repossession of her father’s Mercedes posted a threatening message on her MySpace page sued the agency and JP Morgan Chase today.
In late March, a message was posted to Gina Ricobene’s MySpace page signed by Chris Flanagan, a senior investigator for Washington-based Universal Tracing Services, the suit said. The message, addressed to Ricobene, sought the recovery of a 2007 Mercedes GL450 owned by her father, James Ricobene.
The message threatened legal action if Gina Ricobene failed to contact Flanagan, and said failure to comply was a felony that could lead to imprisonment. Flanagan claimed to be acting on behalf of JP Morgan Chase, the suit said.
Several friends and family members of Ricobene saw the message, causing her embarrassment and “substantial emotional distress,” the suit claims. The suit seeks at least $100,000 for invasion of privacy and consumer fraud.
James Ricobene had also received multiple phone calls from the bank’s collection personnel regarding the car in the month prior to the MySpace posting, the suit said.
Representatives for JP Morgan Chase declined to comment on the suit or confirm that the bank uses Universal Tracing Services for collection. Messages left with Universal Tracing Services were not returned.
Source: chicagobreakingnews.com
Kikolani
Apr 8th, 2009
That seems a bit bizarre… a collection company contacting someone on Myspace? But then again, if you give them your email address, it is possible.
~ Kristi
Frank J
Apr 8th, 2009
It’s outright unprofessional and not good press for wither company.
Thank you Kristi!
Jilli
Apr 8th, 2009
LOL!!! Leave it to the stupidity of Chase bank who still thinks the Republicans are in power and can save them from every illegal harassment in the book! I hope they pay through the nose for this and I hope the practice has hit a huge scale and it costs them millions!
Frank J
Apr 8th, 2009
You always make me laugh Jilli!
James P.
Apr 23rd, 2009
Check out http://techspank.com/?p=250 for an update on this bill collector/ myspace saga
.