The brainchild of environmental campaigner and former Obama special advisor Van Jones, Rebuild the Dream calls itself a technology and people-powered movement working to fix the US economy and expand the middle class.

In its latest campaign, the group is using the plight of former marine Arturo de los Santo, who faces eviction from his home in California, to highlight the foreclosure perils facing huge numbers of Americans.

Rebuild the dream is asking for donation that will be used to buy Facebook ads targeting Freddie Mac and JPMorgan Chase employees "to make sure they see Arturo's story and know what their companies are doing to Arturo and the 40 million other Americans struggling just like him," says a blog post.

According to ProPublica, the ad aimed at Freddie Mac employees features a picture of CEO Charles Haldeman's face, and the message, "Freddie Mac did what???? Freddie Mac is evicting a former Marine who's been trying to pay his mortgage. Tell CEO Haldeman to work out a fair deal with him!"

Says the blog post: "The time for politely worded letters and automated 1-800 numbers is over. Arturo and the rest of America can't afford any more reckless corporate greed from Freddie Mac and JPMorgan Chase, and it's time for their employees to know it."

Foreclosures are a massive political issue in the States: earlier this week the federal government and 49 state attorneys general filed a $25 billion settlement with mortgage lenders over alleged abuses.

Meanwhile, yesterday five banks agreed to pay a total of $25 million to New York State over their use of the privately-owned national mortgage electronic registry system (Mers), which allegedly had been used to speed up the foreclosure process.