iStockphoto / iBrave
There are unverified reports that the website OnlyFans suffered a breach, and that terabytes of photos and videos have been leaked. According to hundreds of posts on Twitter, users of the subscription-based social media platform have had their content leaked to the public. However, OnlyFans has disputed the origin of the content.
OnlyFans, which was launched in 2016, has apparently suffered a cyber attack. The hackers were able to extract at least 1.6tb of data from the mostly adult entertainment website. Links to the leaked content were shared on social media on Thursday.
“Seeing reports of an OnlyFans leak. Estimated to be between 1.6tb and 4tb of content,” tweeted BuzzFeed News reporter Ryan Broderick. “It looks like the leak contains personal information from users, as well.”
Seeing reports of an onlyfans leak. Estimated to be between 1.6tb and 4tb of content.
It looks like the leak contains personal information from users, as well.
I've reached out to their team for more information.
— Ryan Broderick (@broderick) February 27, 2020
BBC Scotland journalist Vonny LeClerc wrote: “Have the image dump, it’s real I’m afraid. Not everything, but there are names attached to very intimate videos.”
https://twitter.com/vonny_bravo/status/1233085601236295680
Steve Pym, Head Of Marketing at OnlyFans, has dismissed the reports of a leak.
“We have investigated claims of a site wide hack and found no evidence of any breach of our systems, Pym wrote on Twitter. “The content contained in the supposed ‘leak’ seems to be curated from multiple sources, including other social media applications.”
https://twitter.com/TheRealStevePym/status/1233133978409930753
OnlyFans describes itself as “a subscription site that enables content creators to monetize their influence.” According to Wikipedia, “OnlyFans has 20 million registered users and claims to have paid out $400 million to its 200,000 content creators.”
The London-based OnlyFans has become immensely popular thanks to influencers, who are mostly women, that sell their nude or sexual content. Subscribers pay the creators typically between $5 to $20 a month to view their adult photos, videos, and pay-per-view (PPV) specials that are not allowed on other social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.
The New York Times wrote a lengthy profile into some of the influencers of OnlyFans last February. OnlyFans influencer Dannii Harwood told the NYT that in 2018, she “brought home $29,420.47 in August, $34,303.24 in September, $52,693.29 in October and $52,760.49 in November.”
The leak means that the content that the OnlyFans influencers use as their main source of income or as supplemental income has been leaked online, and can be seen without them being compensated.
In January, 20-year-old OnlyFans model Kaylen Ward became a household name after she started a campaign to raise funds for the devastating Australian wildfires. Ward, now known as the “Naked Philanthropist,” raised over $1 million in relief funds for the Australian natural disaster with her viral charity work that offered naked photos in exchange for donations.