In many cases, debt collectors can’t reach consumers directly. Therefore, they can attempt to communicate with the debtor’s friends, employers, family members, etc. in order to locate a consumer. The FDCPA strictly monitors these communications and imposes certain restrictions to protect these third parties and consumers from harassment, deceit, and other unethical practices. For instance, debt collectors are legally obligated to identify themselves to individuals and can only confirm the debtor’s location and contact information without revealing their debt, except if the person is their attorney or spouse. Moreover, they can only approach a third party once unless they believe the information received was wrong or incomplete and the third party has since received better information.