There’s a disturbing trend spreading across OnlyFans. Male subscribers are posing as women in order to access intimate content for free. Sometimes these men even pose as their own family members, using their images without permission in lieu of their own to deceive the creator in question. While some are trying to claim that the trend is a kink, it isn’t. It isn’t clever, it isn’t kink, and it is a form of catfishing and deception.

What’s been happening, according to content creators, is that some male subscribers are creating fake female profiles. They use stolen images or pretend to be using a partner’s account. Some users even go as far as to fabricate an entire identity, submitting fake “proof” in the form of wedding photos or even IDs. Their goal is to coax creators into sending personalized content under false pretenses, without having to pay for it.

Multiple OnlyFans creators have reported being affected by this trend. Layla Kelly is an OnlyFans creator who has spoken out publicly about being targeted by these scammers. She says she’s received messages from men who pretend to be their own wives or girlfriends in order to get free nudes from her. Lucy Banks is another OnlyFans creator who has encountered a catfishing subscriber. She says she interacted with a subscriber who claimed to have a “medical kink” and pretended to be a woman. “She” then began asking invasive and fetish-fueled questions about pap smears, IUD insertion, and other personal questions about gynecological exams. These events aren’t isolated to just these two women—multiple creators have come forward to say they’ve been catfished too.

Even if it’s being framed as kink, deceiving someone in this way is wrong. Kink can only be safely practiced when there is express consent between all partners who are participating. In order for consent to be present, all partners must be aware of what is happening. Deceiving someone online via manipulative catfishing removes the ability of the content creator to revoke consent. Content creators typically set very clear boundaries to protect themselves and their work/life balance. These kinds of tactics deliberately bypass those boundaries. Claiming something is a “kink” does not give one leave to ignore the lack of consent from the party being deceived. Misrepresenting one’s identity for sexual gratification is deeply exploitative—doubly so when using someone else’s likeness without their knowledge.

It is never acceptable to use someone else’s identity, images, or persona in any way without their permission. Informed consent is paramount in all things, especially in adults-only spaces where trust is crucial in order for safe exploration to be possible for all parties. If a kink relies on tricking someone into doing something they otherwise wouldn’t? That isn’t kink. It’s manipulation.