Motherboard investigated how people download subscriber-only content in bulk and resubmit it for free or profit across the internet.
At the end of February, reports of a huge adult content website were stolen from OnlyFans subscription-only accounts spread throughout social media. At the time, both the people spreading it and the many models fearing the hundreds of gigabytes of material called the “OnlyFans Leak.”
It was not a security breach of the OnlyFans platform that hosts creator content for subscribers who pay an average of $5 per month per subscription. It wasn’t a hack or a leak at all, but someone actually downloaded and dumped the stolen content from hundreds of models into a hosting service and shared the download connection.
Taking content from OnlyFans accounts manually, uploading one-by-one videos, would be time-consuming and time-consuming. But a user with some basic technical knowledge can automate this process and collect content using a “scraper” tool. This software runs through the OnlyFans site and downloads any videos and photos that a user has access to.
Any user may run one of these programs and access all of the model’s content locally behind a paywall, then re-host it on free sites, resell it, or, in the worst case, use it for dox and harass models.
A motherboard investigation exposed the entire supply chain of people stealing sex workers using scrapping systems without permission, in some cases hundreds of terabytes, and exporting them to other porn pages or selling scraping services through Discord.
Following the “leak” of OnlyFans, Motherboard spoke to a range of performers and owners of premium adult content platforms about the scraping issue. They did not deny that this is a matter of concern and that casual porn consumers do not realize that some of the videos they watch on tube sites for free are actually content stolen from OnlyFans and other subscription sites.
How ONLYFANS Filtering Function
The motherboard has found a wide variety of online resources that let people easily download and store OnlyFans content, whether the original creator likes it or not. Some users claim to scrap massive amounts of content, which they say is then sold back without revealing that it originated from OnlyFans. The motherboard also gained access to Discord servers where administrators explicitly offer a paid service to scrap OnlyFan profiles.
“Some people own server farms that download terabytes of data every day from OF [OnlyFans],” the developer of one of the OnlyFans scrapers told Motherboard in an email.
Some of these tools were Chrome browser extensions that gave users the ability to access content directly from the OnlyFans app. These were Python scripts that automatically collect all content from the developers that users are subscribing to. One was a Windows application that did a lot of the same thing. The motherboard used some of these methods to check that the contents of OnlyFans are effectively stored on the hard drive of the owner. Google removed the Chrome extension from OnlyFans when approached for Motherboard comment, but others remain available.
Digital Criminal said they made their own OnlyFans scraper because they’re collecting images, videos, and text from the internet. Motherboard previously covered how so-called data-holders trade and accumulate passwords, names, and other personal information from data breaches like any other kind of collectible. They differ slightly from archivists who may retain digital information that is at risk of disappearings, such as writing or art. Digital criminals also said they focused more on their own script when someone else’s other device stopped running.
“It is very disheartening that certain individuals fail to acknowledge our tasks as something of worth.”
Digital Criminal said this first tool stopped working when OnlyFans allowed users to run JavaScript on their browser to view the material. “I suppose [this] was the very first move to secure their models from being quickly scrubbed, but they ended up making the web harder to scrape after I found their API,” they continued.
But these tools are not just for people who save the content of OnlyFans for their personal use. Digital Criminal said they were also developing their script for the benefit of others, and pointed to an underground trade in OnlyFans material where people monetize the stolen content.
“A few other people own porn sites that use my code to download and upload videos,” they said.
Another data collector who used the DHRB name told The motherboard in an online chat that they are using another Digital Criminal script to download content from OnlyFans accounts while they are running promotions, which means that a user will sign up for free on a temporary basis. The script then captures all the content it can in that small window. The DHRB referred to this technique as “timed promotion sniping.”
“We’ve absolutely scraped accounts with thousands of files. We ‘re not compressing anything either because we choose quality over storage space. Basically, anything is scrapped. Pictures, photos, audio, and text,” DHRB said.
DHRB described what appears to be a supply chain of content for OnlyFans, with the material being sold from one person to another, and one of the original creators may be unaware that their content is ending up in.
“The information I retrieve is being sold back to a few customers that either own pornographic platforms that host copyrighted material or sell it back information to Rift. But, I just handle OnlyFans,” said DHRB. “Actually, everything falls down a rabbit hole. One individual sells to the next, and that individual sells to the next, and so forth.”
DHRB has declined to identify porn sites that buy the material that they scrounge. “these other sites, even so, wouldn’t say they’re getting material from my companion or me. It’s better to claim it as their own so that they can gain relationships with their customer base,” they said.
But content isn’t only being distributed to hard-to-access forums or casual web sites that haven’t been heard of; it’s all over free tube sites like Pornhub, YouPorn, XVideos, and xHamster, easy to locate using keyword searches on the subscription sites that they stole from. Such sites then monetize the scraped content of advertisements that appear next to the uploaded images.
Pornhub didn’t respond to the proposal. The xHamster official told Motherboard that while tracking sometimes and restricting search terms from searching for neglectful or nonconsensual substance (such as “Iggy Azalea” or “R. Kelly sex tapes”), censoring key phrases which include other high price sites is more challenging even though performers almost always upload subscription content on a regular basis themselves to entice more subscribers.
Outside adult pages, several individuals run their own Discord servers where the material is traded or, in some cases, try to scrap OnlyFans content for a fee. One administrator announced the scrapping of one account for $7, five accounts for $25, or 10 accounts for $50. This is often cheaper than a user would normally pay to subscribe to the OnlyFans creator every month, and the buyer will then be able to keep the videos and photos on their hard drive, probably without the creator ‘s permission. The administrator takes payment via PayPal, Cash App, or Bitcoin, and uploads the scrapped content to the Mega File Sharing Site for customers to access.
The motherboard also found Reddit accounts that advertise Mega folders that allegedly contain content scraped from specific performers; one user offered a specific collection for $10. Bots automatically re-shared new posts from some of these Reddit profiles on some of the Discord servers. Reddit directed Motherboard to its user agreement, which states that it expects users to respect intellectual property rights and to ban repeat infringements of copyright. Copyright holders must first contact Reddit and file a request to remove it.
The Discord Administrator also sells OnlyFans user accounts that are pre-loaded with credits that buyers can then use to purchase other content on the OnlyFans site, such as private videos with creators that are not on the creator’s public feed. Judging from messages in Discord, it appears that either these are compromised by OnlyFans accounts or that the administrator loads them with credits via stolen payment information.
Digital Criminal said they suspect that these Discord administrators are using the script they made, as the resulting folder structure of the scrapped material is the same.
WHAT THEY DO TO PERFORMERS
Last year, professional dominatrix Mistress Harley discovered more than 500 items she had put up for sale for around $10 each had been repositioned in full on a platform devoted on repositioning scraped adult content. Originally, she sold videos to ManyVids, a site where performers can sell individual clips.
“Most hackers would sign up for a month and then rip off all the material they can buy, in some instances making credit or debit card theft charges for a month they’ve registered to in order to snatch all of the information,” Harley told Motherboard. “When you found that customers would rather take away from you than pay for your content and encourage you to continue making more material, it decreases the amount of endeavour I’m willing to put into the subject matter.”
“Stolen material repositioned on free tube pages usually allows the content less attractive or requires you to constantly level up the performance to please your clientele and this that contribute towards a typical ‘burnout’ far sooner,” Romi Chase informed Motherboard. “besides that, it’s totally wrong, especially that several times, cos of porn online, men seem to see little or no value in our work.”
Despite looking effortlessly at the finished product, it can take six to seven hours to shoot a full-length video, and Chase said — time spent planning, preparing, filming, and editing.
“It’s really frustrating that certain individuals fail to accept our job as anything important when simply delivering any sort of support much like every other staff,” she said.
Chase argued that OnlyFans is doing a good job of protecting creators by requiring users to agree not to repost content viewed or purchased on the platform as part of its terms of service, offering watermarking services to track stolen content, and not allowing subscribers to download directly from the platform.
Romi Rain, another performer who sells content on subscription platforms, said that even with rampant content piracy (she found a video was stolen from her OnlyFans distributed free of charge to Pornhub as we talked about it) the premium platforms had been a major improvement over the centralized studio network.
“Performers have much more power over their material than ever before earning more profits out of it DEFINITELY,” Rain said. “interestingly, the disease outbreak also ignited trust in the material boom in porn. The comfort net of realizing you don’t go instantly bankrupt because you were thinking about something or started filming fifth scenes a week of 12 hour days for a shockingly small price, that’s about all.”
“There is a social stigma towards prostitutes which makes this more lawful.”
However, on a technical level, OnlyFans does not stop or slow down scraping. Clearly, scraping tools work reliably enough for people to use them on a scale.
Larger sizes such as Facebook and LinkedIn are actively trying to stamp out scraping with both technical and legal interventions, but rendering any site invulnerable to scraping is difficult. The spokesperson for OnlyFans did not answer specific questions about the technical anti-scraping measures it is taking, but the spokesperson told Motherboard that the platform had a dedicated anti-piracy team that would issue DMCA takeovers on behalf of its creators.
“This protocol includes all of the warning signs order to transmit a certain infringement to a court where target web pages do not comply with it. Only supporters will notify the convicted browser notaries and use throughout along with all search engines,” said the representative. “with such an obligation to help combat unlawful cybercrime, OnlyFans is decided to commit to the fight to protect user data. This year’s health outcomes have been much more than 75% across insulting file upload webpages, pirate bay suppliers, as well as cyberlockers.”
OnlyFans is not the only content scrapping platform, nor is it the only platform that claims to have robust anti-piracy policies in place. Tube sites also have terms of service clauses that prohibit users from uploading content that they do not own, but the stolen and copyrighted content on those sites has been a widespread problem on those platforms for as long as they exist and has often been responsible for removing content from the original content creator.
But with OnlyFans’ sudden rise in popularity during the coronavirus pandemic, it has become an even more lucrative target for content thieves who use scraping tools to get around these policies.
Certain motherboard companies spoken to are still struggling with how to avoid theft.
Dominic Ford, founder, and CEO of JustForFans Premium Adult Content Site said his platform uses a two-pronged approach to piracy. Models will report piracy to the anti-piracy service Porn Guardian, which aims to delete content from illegal sites and receives civil damages. Just For Fans also uses patented fingerprinting technology that Ford says is embedded in content to determine who streams videos.
“If that clip is uploaded elsewhere, we can define whoever the initial bandit had been on our location. We then can shut it down to help our model to lawfully continue pursuing it if they so choose,” Ford said.
Bella French, founder, and CEO of ManyVids said that its the platform employs a team to deal with theft and fraud, and also uses a combination of third-party anti-piracy companies to automatically identify and remove stolen content, as well as to use unique stream links for each user-generated once the user’s permission to view the content of the models has been validated.
However, the French also acknowledges that the problem of theft is as much a matter of stigma for sex workers as it is technological.
“We ‘re taking a maximum attempt at ManyVids for doing whatever we can to defend content creators and reduce the possibility of infringement, and I don’t believe we can develop technology as a panacea in this case,” French said. There’s going to be a “sea transition,” she said, about how individuals see the tasks of models, and however they see and expect to be paid for their nudity.
“It is a town surrounded with hard-working individuals who will need money to live and ultimately thrive,” she said. “It is a reality we need to get through, and the business as a whole wants to work together if we want to have a hope at lifting the perception at infringement from our industry for better.”
At another premium content platform, FanCentro, Vice President Kat Revenga told Motherboard that theft of content is one of the biggest challenges that creators face.
“There is a social bias against sex workers that makes this more permissible,” Revenga said. “People stealing the material believe that it is their right to do so, that the creators deserve to be abused because of the work they do.”
When creators alert them to the content that has been stolen, FanCentro investigates the claim and helps them to get it removed. Following the “leak” of OnlyFans, the platform offered to anyone affected who had signed up for free DMCA protection at FanCentro.
“systems, particularly anyone whose achievement is influenced by the work of prostitutes, have to step it up,” said Revenga.
WHY ARE THE ONLYFANS SCRAPERS DOING IT?
Only Fans’ subscriptions range from $4.99 to $49.99 a month — on average, they cost less than streaming video services like Netflix or Spotify — but some people are still looking for ways to get that content for free, downloaded from sites where thieves post content for sale or for free.
Motherboard asked Digital Criminal whether they considered theft of content from the perspective of the models.
“I’m going, being honest, to say that I appreciate where they’re coming from, I just want to have the material that I’ve paid for, and so many others do. It was the most common justification for both the story,” they said.
“[Data scraper tools] still are going to be around, people are just going to record/download your data, start giving it to their chums, or even just leak it to the internet just to be in regardless of you. The only point you can do is to get DMCA security to safeguard your material,” Digital Criminal said.
One of the people doing the scraping motherboard spoke to blame the models for this outcome — not the thieves.
“Ever since you chose to build your face on the adult part of the media where your primary demographic is lonely men, you’ll have to take into account that people are actively clawing your videos to build a face database so that they can bridge-reference pictures on certain social networking sites,” they said.
Many adult sites, including OnlyFans, allow models to set up geo-blocking to prevent people they know in real life from finding their content in a certain region. However, once it has been discarded and repackaged or resold elsewhere, the security will vanish. Anyone can see a video, and once it goes viral, there’s no way to tell where it’s going to end up online. The impact of viral adult content within the model community can be profoundly damaging and, in the worst cases, deadly.
But the greatest concern of creators when their content is stolen is still financial. As platforms like OnlyFans change their policies to reduce their income, even more, performers need to work even harder to make a living that outpaces theft. Until consumers value the labour of sex workers as having value, the demand for free content will continue.
“If you rob or use the stolen content, you actually remove someone’s money,” said Revenga. “Their willingness to pay the rent, purchase food or compensate for schooling … Influencers rely on networks to maintain their contents secure, and we need to take the appropriate precautions to deter them from becoming part of the problem.”
“In reality, cybercrime has a very direct effect on models. Models earn their revenue data from consumers, so on the both these hand, theft has been actually trying to steal from models,” Ford said. “It was terrible enough as the production companies did suffer, however, the bandits thought the studios all were-powerful and rich, and they’d never feel it. This wasn’t true after which, and it’s not true now. And it’s worse than trying to steal fan content because users know that this is money coming explicitly from the hands of the models, which helps make this homicide more inhumane and individual.”
