(supremature / Flickr)

When you open up Facebook, you could see a friend request from someone you don't know, and that someone could be a debt collector.

A new rule by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau went into effect last November that changes the way debt collectors can try and contact you. Those changes include things like Facebook, email and even text messages.

This could make it easier for debt collectors to track down lost money, but it also means that new scams designed around the rules are becoming a problem. To help us sort out the new rules, and when someone is trying to collect a real debt, Idaho Matters asked for some help from the Consumer Finance Bureau Chief with the Idaho Department of Finance Erin Van Engelen.