Disconnect random Facebook Ads account from my profile?

February 16, 2016 9:30 PM

A stranger's Facebook Ads account was somehow connected to my personal Facebook profile. How do I disconnect it?

Just got a strange notification when I opened Facebook in a browser for the first time in several weeks. (Usually I use the app on my iPad, checking a few times a day.) The notification is dated yesterday morning, and it reads: "Thanks for your ad payment. Ads you're running are now active again."

Thing is, I've never used Facebook Ads. I've administered a couple of Pages in the last few years, though none at the moment. And I've never, in 11 years, provided Facebook with any financial information.

When I click on the notification, I'm taken to the Ads Manager screen (https://www.facebook.com/ads/manager/account/?act=########). On the Manage Accounts tab, it shows me two accounts, both labeled "personal": an unused one with my name on it – and some stranger's account. I can see their two campaigns (both from October 2015, both currently inactive) and, if I click on the Billing tab, I can see more of their financial information than I'm comfortable with. (I'm not checking very closely, but the last four digits of their credit card and its expiration date are easily visible.)

Obviously, I want this person's info disconnected from my account. Poof! Gone! I can pretend this never happened and go back to posting pictures of my cats' toebeans!

Of course, I can't find any direct contact information for anyone at Facebook Ads/Facebook for Business. I trust AskMe a bit more than the Facebook help forums – can any of you help me contact Facebook or disconnect the wayward Facebook Ads account?

(Sidebar: I've had login alerts enabled for a while, and I just enabled two-factor authentication and changed my password for the account. I haven't noticed any suspicious activity. Let me know if I should be more concerned about my security.)

posted by kwaller to Computers & Internet (4 answers total)

Try here: https://www.facebook.com/business/contact-us/ when you're logged in on desktop/browser NOT the app.
And select to send Facebook an Email. You need to be logged in for that to show an email/contact dialogue. (For reference that's under Manage Ads- top right arrow, then Help on the top right once it loads. Then scroll to email.) If that doesn't work, then somewhere on the Manage Ads page in the browser. (The Apps for Facebook suck for anything beyond basic management.)

If you don't hear back from Facebook or you want to double-up then I'd message the owner of the ads (it shows their profile right?) and/or message the page that the ads are for - I think it should show the Facebook page or website being promoted.

I have no idea if you can remove yourself or how you could have been invited to see ads without accepting something. I've used Facebook ads heavily but without adding other users and they constantly make updates. So there may be some simple button you can click that I'm unaware of.
posted by Crystalinne at 10:44 PM on February 16, 2016

Best answer: This facebook help page has instructions for removing accounts from an ad account. You might be able to follow these steps and remove yourself: Link.
posted by nalyd at 3:31 AM on February 17, 2016

It sounds like they granted privileges to someone else and put a typo in the account and ended up adding you instead. If you message the person they will probably just fix it.
posted by rockindata at 6:14 AM on February 17, 2016

Response by poster: Thanks, all. Following the instructions under "How do I remove or change permissions for someone on my ad account?" on the linked Ad Accounts and Permissions page, I found myself on a long, long list of approved Ad Account Advertisers for the stranger's account. I was able to remove my name by clicking a little ticky box, and no more do I see Stranger Gee's info.

I appreciate your help!
posted by kwaller at 7:14 PM on February 17, 2016