A whistleblower has accused Visa and Mastercard of allowing their payment networks to facilitate transactions for illicit content on the adult platform OnlyFans, including child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and sex trafficking. The complaint, filed in January 2023 with the US Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), claims that the card giants were aware of these illegal activities as early as 2021 but failed to act effectively to stop them.
Visa and Mastercard Knew About Inaction Despite Warnings
The complaint states that the two companies had received multiple alerts by anti-trafficking experts and US federal agents in 2021 and 2022 regarding illegal content on OnlyFans. This complaint also claims that Visa and Mastercard were aware of the existence of child sexual abuse material on the platform but continued processing payments on it. Another charge against the companies is willful failure to comply with anti-money laundering requirements, thus violating the Bank Secrecy Act.
A senior compliance expert and whistleblower alleged that Visa and Mastercard processed payments made to the illegal content, child sexual abuse material, on OnlyFans, allowing its creators to monetize illicit material. According to the complaint, this directly links credit card giants to the flow of illegal revenues.
Evidence and Investigations Back Allegations
In support of this assertion, the complaint points to a 2022 report by the Anti-Trafficking Intelligence Initiative (ATII), where it noted that there was a massive quantity of OnlyFans accounts comprised of material that was identified as CSAM or sex trafficking. The whistleblower here observed that he was an assistant to the study and made it available to Visa and Mastercard; but neither company responded appropriately.
The complaint further alleges that the two firms, with their respective processing systems, allowed funds accreted from the illicit transactions to be routed through their own networks, thereby facilitating the continuance of exploitation of children on the platform.
The claims further added that Visa and Mastercard had shifted the responsibility of monitoring adult content sites, such as OnlyFans, to the banks in order to shun their affirmative obligations while earning profits from illegal activities.
Visa and Mastercard Vindicate Themselves
Visa and Mastercard have denied all the allegations leveled against them by the whistleblower. Visa noted its efforts to maintain strict compliance standards as well as mentioned it cuts ties with financial institutions and merchants that do not meet their criteria of compliance. Mastercard had similar remarks where it said it has collaborations with business associates who act regarding illegal activities once identified.
But in her critique of the whistleblower’s allegations, the whistleblower complaint states that card companies have been lazy and failed to act on cases where there was clear proof of illegal content existing on OnlyFans.
OnlyFans’ Role and Response
Another company caught in the middle of the backlash was OnlyFans, one of the fastest-growing companies in the creator economy. The company had maintained it has no illegal content and has maintained a zero-tolerance policy towards child abuse material. Yet, it faces criticism and litigation mounting up to date with various police reports and investigations uncovering multiple instances of child sexual abuse material on OnlyFans.
The site has reported gross payments to the creators at $6.6 billion in 2023, and so far, Visa and Mastercard process most of the transactions on the site. This association, according to the whistleblower, raises serious concerns about the companies’ role in facilitating such illegal activities.
As the complaint is developed, regulating authorities will need to face this fast-emerging trend that involves monetization of content illicit in nature and whether or not financial institutions are doing enough towards prevention of such monetization.