A more thorough explanation:

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is a law that was enacted by Congress in 1978 to protect consumers from abusive, deceptive, and unfair debt collection practices by debt collectors. The FDCPA provides debtors with a means for challenging payoff demands and determining the validity and accuracy of asserted debts. It also establishes ethical guidelines for the collection of consumer debts.

The FDCPA prohibits debt collectors from using any false, deceptive, or misleading representation or means in connection with the collection of any debt. This includes harassing or annoying debtors, threatening them with arrest, and threatening legal action unless litigation is actually being contemplated. Debt collectors are also prohibited from contacting debtors before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m., and from contacting debtors on holidays or weekends unless they know or have reason to know that doing so would be inconvenient to the debtor. Debt collectors may not contact a debtor directly if they know the debtor is represented by counsel.

Debt collectors are required to notify debtors about their ability to challenge the validity of a debt and to provide other basic information in their first communication with the consumer. This includes informing the debtor of their right to ask the collection agency to validate the debt.

The FDCPA provides for private rights of action against debt collectors and permits debtors to recover actual damages, statutory damages, and attorneys' fees and costs for violations of its terms. Some states have enacted consumer protection statutes that provide broader coverage than the FDCPA and may include the conduct of the original creditor within their sweep.

An example of a violation of the FDCPA would be a debt collector calling a debtor at 6:00 a.m. and threatening to have them arrested if they do not pay their debt immediately. This is a violation of the FDCPA's prohibition on harassing or annoying debtors and threatening them with arrest.