The most straightforward reading of this, which is that they had her contact information but spoke to family members anyway, is a pretty clear violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Leaving twenty messages per day is also a violation, though debtors have been known to ahem exaggerate that one.
That they used Facebook is irrelevant -- calling the sister, emailing the sister, or sending the sister messages via carrier pigeons are all equally illegal. And if they were stupid enough to post a message on her wall about it, which I doubt, statutory damages would hit six figures very, very quickly. ($1,000 for every Facebook friend who is not your spouse.)
Notice that nowhere does it say -what- the debt collectors said. It only says they contacted family and friends.
They do that to try to get in direct contact by tricking the family and friends into giving better contact info.
Yes, debt collectors are rude and often unethical... But I have little pity for people who try to avoid them. The problem is not the debt, but the avoidance of it.
That they used Facebook is irrelevant -- calling the sister, emailing the sister, or sending the sister messages via carrier pigeons are all equally illegal. And if they were stupid enough to post a message on her wall about it, which I doubt, statutory damages would hit six figures very, very quickly. ($1,000 for every Facebook friend who is not your spouse.)