Social media is being used by insurance companies as a way of investigating suspected frauduent or exageratted claims.

Over the past week a 60,000 euro damages case taken by a 29 year old waitress who said her life had been dramatically changed by a car accident was thrown out of court after she was presented with her Facebook photographs of her exercising at the gym and climbing Bray head.

In a separate case a man was jailed after he and his wife pretended to be strangers and staged a car crash - they were foiled when the insurance company saw them in eachothers' Facebook pictures.

I've been speaking to Personal Finance Editor with the Irish Independent Charlie Weston: