Nineteen crimes linked to OnlyFans have been reported to Police Scotland in the last five years, an investigation for the Daily Record has revealed.
Ten of these were “detected”, meaning a suspect was identified and there was enough evidence to consider criminal proceedings. They include a string of allegations of revenge porn, where the victim claims that intimate video or photographs were posted online without their consent.
One man went to police in October 2023 claiming that someone posted an “explicit video.. onto OnlyFans without his consent”. One month earlier it was claimed that a suspect “sent intimate photo and video taken from victim’s OnlyFans account and emailed this to [the] victim and others causing alarm [and] distress”.
In March that year, a suspect was accused of “sharing explicit images of the complainer without her consent and creating a fake OnlyFans account portraying to be her”. They also include claims of attempted blackmail or sextortion where victims were allegedly asked to pay money or provide more explicit material.
One crime report from September 2023 alleged that a suspect “threatened to disclose intimate conversation unless [the] complainer subscribed to OnlyFans and tipped £1000”.
In another report from January that year, a woman alleged to police that she was approached on Twitter, now called X, but someone asking “if she would provide explicit content via her OnlyFans account, agreeing to pay £300 for 1 hour of video content”.
It appears there was a second complainant who were “engaged in conversation” and both “provided explicit video content”. But the alleged suspect was then accused of “thereafter threatening to disclose said footage to their friends and family unless they provided further sexually explicit content”.
One alleged victim told police in June 2021 that they agreed to be filmed “performing a sexual act” on the suspect but that they “did thereafter upload said footage to OnlyFans for monetary gain without the consent of the reporter”.
And in May 2022 it was claimed that a suspect had breached their Sexual Offences Prevention Order “by failing to notify use of OnlyFans social networking site”.
OnlyFans, which is owned by a British company, has grown to a £5bn a year industry, fuelled by DIY pornography and stunts of “creators” like Bonnie Blue who was filmed having sex with more than 1,000 men in 24 hours.
Through Freedom of Information Act requests, our sister title the Mirror found that police forces across the UK are being asked to investigate claims of rapes linked to the making of videos for the site, along with allegations of blackmail, stalking, harassment, child abuse material and threats of violence.
OnlyFans has revealed it has had nearly 180 legal requests from UK law enforcement in the last two years and a spokesperson said: “OnlyFans works closely with law enforcement agencies around the world. Unlike other platforms, OnlyFans knows the legal identity of all its users so is uniquely placed to support investigations.
“This approach means OnlyFans is an extremely hostile environment for anyone seeking to abuse our platform.”
Across the UK there had been 1,613 crime reports where the OnlyFans was recorded in the “modus operandi” – where officers record details of the crime.
They include at least ten cases of women claiming they are being forced to perform sex work on the platform by their controlling partners.
There were 21 reported rapes where OnlyFans was mentioned and more than a dozen cases which refer to involvement of under 18s using the OnlyFans in breach of site rules.
It paints a disturbing picture of the chaos connected to the rise of the platform which claims to have more than 4 million “creators” and over 300 million “fan” accounts.
Just last November, a man from Paisley was jailed for targeting school girls and told one of the victims to start an OnlyFans account. Robert Young plead guilty to 23 sexual offences involving 11 young females.
Charity CARE have said that the exploitation of vulnerable people on OnlyFans “can not continue” and has called on Scottish Ministers to work with the UK Government to ensure concrete action.
Tim Cairns, Senior Policy Officer at CARE, which campaigns on online safety, said: “OnlyFans is one of two video-sharing platforms to have been investigated by OFCOM after concerns about children accessing sexual content, and neither probe has resulted in sanctions.
“Failing to prevent children accessing harmful content is just one facet of our concerns about OnlyFans. Investigations have exposed an array of disturbing material on the platform, including underage sexual material and revenge porn, as well as the exploitation of women in modern slavery. We would urge Scottish Ministers to work with the UK Government to ensure concrete action. This situation cannot continue.
“OFCOM will soon be required to uphold age assurance provisions in the Online Safety Act that apply to all porn sites. The Scottish public expects the regulator to take robust enforcement action against sites that are failing women and children.”
Police Scotland said that “19 crime reports included ‘Only Fans’ or ‘OnlyFans’ in the Modus Operandi field of the crime report” in five years to November 2024.
It added that a keyword search was not an “accurate means of analysis” because there may be “crimes of relevance” which do not include the keyword and that “spelling errors can skew the results”.
Also, although OnlyFans appeared in the crime report it may not have been “directly related” to the alleged crime. The outcome of the 10 crimes detected by Police Scotland was not known.
OnlyFans CEO Keily Blair said in 2023: “We know the age and identity of everyone on our platform. No children allowed, nobody under 18 on the platform.”
OnlyFans has said it tightened its procedures in 2022, requiring proof of consent from all who feature in explicit content.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We would urge anyone who has been a victim of crime to report it to us so that it can be fully investigated.”
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