What is Painted Dreams Marketing LLC?
Painted Dreams Marketing LLC is an affiliate advertising company. They run ads and promote the products for many different companies. Usually, they run these Ads on Facebook and Google Ad accounts, but do not use their own accounts. Instead, they rent Facebook ad accounts from other people – people like you and me. They claim this is not against Facebook Terms of Service. Facebook, they say, forbids selling an account, but they don’t want to buy your account. They only want to borrow it – and pay you rent while they do. According to the Painted Dreams Marketing website:
“How we do it: We run paid ads in the business section of your Facebook. We pay both you and Facebook to let us run these ads. These are the sponsored ads you see on the side of FB. It does not target or spam your friends. FB targets these ads to users they think will be interested in the individual product. Ever Google something and then go onto Facebook and all of a sudden you are seeing ads pertaining to what you were Googling? This is how Facebook Ads work. What type of Ads do we run: We run ads for many different companies. Most are either health, supplement, fitness or beauty related.” Painted Dreams Marketing LLC
Painted Dreams Marketing LLC at a Glance
Company: painted-dreams.com
Product Type: Facebook and Google Ad Placement
Price to join: Free to Join
Do I recommend? No! Potential ban of your Google and Facebook Ads accounts
Is There a Better Opportunity to Make Money Online or from Home?
How Does Painted Dreams Marketing LLC Operate?
The idea is simple. They pay you $15/month to use the ad space on the business side of your Facebook account. However, this means they will set up a business page on your account, and put up their ads through there. You can make another $15/month by allowing them to use your Google ads account space. In addition, you can earn up to $65 for every referral you bring in. For a qualifying Facebook account you get $40, and $25 for a Google account.
There is even a $10 connection bonus. It sounds like a lot of earning potential, with very little work on your part, right? I mean, it simply requires setting up a connection to your Facebook and Google Ads account. Then you can put your referral links everywhere to tell everyone about this great opportunity. I mean, it sounds like almost unlimited money can be earned through referrals you make signing up other Facebook and Google Ads accounts.
Why Can’t I Rent out my Facebook Page?
Facebook isn’t like a blog, where you have complete control and can monetize anything you like. Typically, you have very few avenues to make money from a Facebook account. One is to post affiliate links organically, which has a tendency to look like spam. Another is to run an organic Facebook page referring traffic to your website. Your webpage is where you can freely exercise monetization methods. These methods range from affiliate links and pay per view ads to actual products for sale. You can also use your Facebook ads account to generate website traffic through paid ads. But, that’s not making money from your Facebook page. That’s using their advertising platform as it was intended – for legitimate adverting purposes.
So, Wait! Why would Painted Dreams – or anybody else want to use another person’s account in the first place? Come on, don’t all legitimate businesses have their own advertising accounts?
Why Would Painted Dreams Marketing Use Somebody Else’s Facebook Ad Account?
Facebook tries to ban dodgy internet marketers from advertising on their platform. Shady operators must either stop their activities, or come up with other ways to keep running questionable ad campaigns. One method to get around a banned Facebook account is to pay people to “rent” their Facebook Ad accounts.
This rental arrangement for a “clean” Facebook account is how shady companies try to exploit Facebook’s advertising restrictions. Renting another account allows these fringe operators to avoid bans and conceal who is really behind a new campaign. With a rented account, a scammer can create a new page and quickly begin running ads. Facebook may eventually block those new ads and ban the rented account. But, the ad launderer can quickly move to another rented account and start over. They can do this again and again without Facebook or anyone else knowing who they are. They get away with this by finding and paying others to help them bypass Facebook advertising restrictions.
Why Don’t They Just Open up Accounts Themselves from Scratch?
How The Facebook Ad Rental Scam Works
Painted Dreams Marketing LLC is not the only player trying to rent Facebook accounts. There are others operating in this shady region as well. These sites typically say they are looking for people with:
- Real Facebook accounts that have existed for at least one year
- Based in the US with over 100 friends
- Have not previously run ads on Facebook.
- Over 21 years of age
Free Laptop to Join
Some ad launderers offer people a free laptop if they sign up. The laptop comes preinstalled with software that enables the launderers to run ads from the user’s Facebook account. This software also provides scammers an opportunity to engage in other invasive and risky behavior at your expense. Rented accounts are often used to place ads for spammy offerings that are usually weeded out by Facebook.
These include online casinos and male enhancement products and dating offers linked to porn sites. Facebook has a stringent process to weed out these types of ads, but there are loopholes that can be exploited – at least temporarily. Based on research, it is estimated that thousands of people have signed up for these schemes. Even Facebook admits this activity is a persistent problem. However, Facebook policy is clear and strict. When they uncover these kinds of account rental services, they take action to find and terminate the affected accounts.
Remote Access to Your Computer
If you are interested in renting your account, you are required to fill out a contact form. If accepted, you are asked to enable the launderers to virtually access your computer. The purpose, they say, is in order for them to set up a Facebook ads account linked to their profile. Some give you a free laptop, with invasive software already installed. Some ask you to install a browser plugin provided by the ad launderers theselves. Other sites utilize a program called TeamViewer. This is legitimate software typically used for technical support. But, it requires a user to provide remote access to their computer.
Giving remote access to your computer to an unknown party is a huge security risk and a terrible idea. They can easily install a backdoor or steal your personal files. This might include personal photos, electronic tax records, banking information and login information stored on your computer.
Are There Other Risks – Besides Banning Your Facebook Account?
In spite of the risks, the websites for these schemes go out of their way to assure people that it’s not a scam or security risk and that it does not violate Facebook’s policies — none of which is true. Renting your Facebook advertising is not a recommended option. There are greater risks than having your account banned:
Your Profile can be destroyed
Facebook pages are tied to profiles. Giving access to your page requires handing over access to your profile. You could create a sub-admin level user to manage your page for you. In fact, this is a common practice with social media agencies. But users who want to rent your space insist or deceive you into giving them greater access to your account, and even your computer files.
Your Personal Information is at Risk
Once the user has access to your account and your computer, they can use it for other purposes. If you have any payment information accessible, they will certainly use it. Identity theft and major fraud could be just a step away. At this point, there’s not much you can do about it either.
Your Followers will Ultimately be Affected
If you have a brand reputation or presence built up on Facebook, you’re going to lose it. The person renting the account can change all of that information to their own brand. This essentially allows them to highjack your audience from you. That audience will leave anyway, once they realize you’re no longer who you said you are. Either way, your page will be destroyed.
Information Cannot be Restored
There’s a limit on the number of times you can change the information for your Facebook page. Anything that changes names or URLs is irreversible. Even if you de-authenticate the renter and kick them out, you won’t be able to restore your information.
Other Activities can Occur Undetected
Even if the renter doesn’t touch your page itself, they can still do things within your account. They might send messages on your behalf, posting to people’s walls where you don’t see it, or use your ads manager to run ads that, well, can get your account banned from Facebook.