In this guide
- The promise and the problem
- What Reuters found
- What WIRED saw from the inside
- The 2024 class action
- Enter the bots
- What an agency actually does
- The real cost for creators
- The risk nobody talks about: your account and your data
- Questions to ask before you sign
- What fans should know
- My take
OnlyFans sells something very simple: you pay, and you get closer to the person you like. Its own marketing talks about authentic relationships between creators and fans. The direct message is the heart of that promise, and it is where most of the money is made, through tips, paid messages and pay-per-view content sent in private.
But here is something that has been documented in detail by serious journalists: on many big accounts, the person answering those messages is not the creator. It is a “chatter,” a contractor paid to write in the creator’s name. I have worked in the adult industry for years and I want to explain this calmly, using only what has been publicly reported, because it matters both to creators thinking of signing with an agency and to fans who believe they are talking to a real person.
What Reuters found
In July 2024, Reuters published a long investigation titled “OnlyFans’ porn juggernaut fueled by a deception” (Reuters). Its central finding was that many popular OnlyFans creators, including porn stars earning millions of dollars on the site, outsource the job of messaging their subscribers to paid impersonators. Their job, Reuters wrote, is to coax subscribers into tipping and buying more content.
Reuters described chatters as not formally affiliated with OnlyFans, but as an essential part of how many top accounts make money. It also reported that some subscribers who discovered the practice said it amounted to fraud. The presence of chatters had been mentioned before, often as a curiosity. What the investigation added was scale and detail: scripts, sales tactics and a whole industry of management agencies built around the model.
The direct message is where the money is. That is exactly why so many accounts hand it to someone else.
What WIRED saw from the inside
WIRED published a first-person piece by a journalist who went undercover as an OnlyFans chatter (WIRED). The article describes a creator who had hired a management agency to keep up with subscribers’ demand for personal attention, and who told the reporter that the “chat specialists” the agency provided were a huge part of the deal. The agency supplied a team of contractors whose only job was to masquerade as the creator in private messages.
The title says how it felt: “It Wasn’t Pretty.” I recommend reading it in full if you are a creator considering an agency, because it shows the work from the side most people never see.
The 2024 class action
On August 1, 2024, a proposed class action was reported against OnlyFans’ owner and several management agencies: N.Z. et al. v. Fenix International Limited et al. (ClassAction.org; Hagens Berman). The defendants named include Fenix International Limited, Fenix Internet LLC and agencies such as Moxy Management, Behave Agency, A.S.H. Agency, Content X, Verge Agency and Elite Creators.
According to the 127-page complaint, as summarised by ClassAction.org:
- Fans pay to communicate personally with creators but are instead talking to “fleets of chatters” brought in by management agencies.
- Chatters are allegedly trained to “exploit emotional connections” and follow scripts designed to find the most emotionally invested fans and get them to spend more.
- Chatters allegedly never reveal they are not the creator, and confirm the impersonation if questioned.
- The suit also alleges privacy breaches, because intimate messages, photos and videos from fans are accessible to many unauthorised people.
- It alleges OnlyFans knew about the practice, that it violates the platform’s own rules, and that the company profits through its 20% cut.
I want to be careful here. These are allegations in a lawsuit, not findings by a court. I am not saying any named agency or creator did anything illegal. But the complaint is public, and it describes the business model clearly enough that every creator should understand the legal risk.
Enter the bots
The same month, Reuters published a second story: “AI bots talk dirty so OnlyFans stars don’t have to” (Reuters). It reported that some agencies managing OnlyFans performers said they use AI software to message subscribers, bypassing or minimising human chatters. Reuters quoted the website of one US agency, which advertised its own chatbot as creating “authentic connections.” According to Reuters, the software is openly marketed to agencies but not disclosed to subscribers.
This is a different issue from AI creators. As I explained in my OnlyFans vs Fansly vs Fanvue comparison, Fansly’s terms ban AI systems that interact with users without human oversight, while Fanvue allows AI accounts if they are clearly labelled. The question is always the same: does the fan know what they are paying for?
What an agency actually does
To be fair, not everything an agency does is chatting. From what has been publicly described, agencies typically offer some mix of:
- Marketing: growing the creator’s social media and driving traffic to the paid page.
- Content planning: what to shoot, when to post, how to price pay-per-view.
- Account management: scheduling, mass messages, promotions.
- Messaging: the chatters, often working in shifts so the account answers around the clock.
Some creators genuinely need help. Running a busy account is a full-time job, and many performers are better at making content than at selling it. The question is not whether help is ever legitimate. It is whether the help involves deceiving the people paying you, and whether the deal is fair to you.
The real cost for creators
As I explained in how OnlyFans works, the platform keeps 20% of every payment. An agency’s commission comes on top of that, taken from your 80%. There is no public standard rate, and percentages vary widely, so I will not quote a number I cannot source. What I can tell you is the maths: if an agency takes a large share of your 80%, you may end up keeping well under half of what your fans paid.
Look at the official numbers too. In fiscal 2025, OnlyFans paid creators $6.3 billion across 2.5 million active creator accounts, according to Variety. That is about $2,500 per active creator per year on average, and the median is certainly lower because a small number of accounts earn most of the money. I go through this in OnlyFans by the numbers. An agency that promises to multiply your income is selling you a future that, statistically, most creators do not get.
The risk nobody talks about: your account and your data
When an agency runs your messages, other people have access to your account, your fans’ private messages and often your unreleased content. That creates three risks:
- Responsibility. Whatever is sent from your account is sent in your name. If a chatter makes promises, breaks platform rules or mistreats a fan, it is your account and your reputation that suffer.
- Privacy. The class action specifically alleges breaches of confidentiality involving fans’ intimate messages. Your own private data is exposed too.
- Control. If you fall out with an agency that holds your logins, your content and your fan relationships, leaving can be difficult. I cover how to protect yourself in my guide to creator privacy and safety.
Questions to ask before you sign
If you are thinking about an agency, ask these questions and get every answer in writing:
- What exact percentage do you take, and of what? Gross or net? Including tips and messages?
- Who will write to my fans, and do I approve what they say?
- Will you use AI to message fans? If yes, is it disclosed?
- Who holds the login and the two-factor authentication? It should be you.
- Who owns the content and the fan list if we part ways?
- How do I leave, with how much notice, and is there a penalty?
- Can I talk to current and former clients?
A serious agency will answer without problems. If they pressure you, promise guaranteed income or ask for your passwords on day one, walk away. And have any contract reviewed by a lawyer before signing.
What fans should know
If you are a fan, I am not telling you to stop supporting creators. I am telling you to be realistic. On a very large account, it is unlikely that the person behind it can personally answer thousands of messages a day. Spend what you can afford, do not share anything you would not want strangers to read, and do not confuse a sales conversation with a relationship. The creators I respect are honest with their audience about how they work.
My take
I make my living in this industry, and I believe adult work should be honest work. Paying someone to help you post, edit or market is normal business. Paying someone to pretend to be you, to make lonely people spend more, is something else, and the public reporting and the lawsuit show why it is a risk for everyone: for the fans, for the creators and for the platform.
My advice to any creator is simple: keep control of your account, keep your relationship with your fans real, and if you use help, be transparent about it. Your name is the only asset you really own. Do not rent it out cheaply. For more on how smart performers think about their careers beyond one platform, read my take on porn stars and their business moves at House of Maximo.
To follow my work, visit maximogarciaworld.com, and for the 18+ side, fuckingpornstars.net.
This article summarises publicly reported journalism and court filings at the time of writing. Lawsuit claims are allegations, not proven facts. General information, not legal or financial advice.
Sources
- Reuters. OnlyFans’ porn juggernaut fueled by a deception. July 2024.
- Reuters. AI bots talk dirty so OnlyFans stars don’t have to. July 30, 2024.
- WIRED. I Went Undercover as a Secret OnlyFans Chatter. It Wasn’t Pretty.
- Corrado Rizzi, ClassAction.org. OnlyFans Lawsuit Alleges Subscribers Unknowingly Talk with Paid ‘Chatters,’ Not Actual Content Creators. August 1, 2024.
- Hagens Berman. OnlyFans Chatters Class Action.
- Todd Spangler, Variety. OnlyFans Millionaires: Site Says 5,076 Creators Have Earned More Than $1 Million to Date. August 25, 2026.
