Concerns over OnlyFans' role in sex, drug trafficking, money laundering
Adult content site OnlyFans is one among many subscription-based sites being watched by financial crime and law enforcement agencies as high-risk platforms that could potentially facilitate organised crime such as drug or sex trafficking, money laundering, or child exploitation.
While the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and financial
crime watchdog AUSTRAC would not confirm nor deny any formal investigation was
underway, academics and experts are reportedly concerned the platform is
playing a role in dodgy payments and crimes, NCA Newswire reported.
The UK-headquartered platform has more than a million
content creators and is known for hosting a significant volume of sexual
content and pornography.
Financial institutions have a duty to self-report suspicious
transactions to AUSTRAC. Big bank Westpac was forced to pay a $1.3 billion
penalty after it was found the bank failed to adequately report more than 23
million breaches of money-laundering laws.
"Organised crime networks are highly opportunistic and
adaptive. The AFP is aware of emerging avenues that criminal organisations may
use to launder money gained through crime," an AFP spokesperson told Yahoo
Finance in a statement.
Thanks to Australia's tight financial regulations, criminals
are forced to find alternate methods of getting murky transactions through
without alerting banks or the regulators, the AFP spokesperson continued.
The AFP works closely with AUSTRAC to understand risks that
come from new payment platforms and financial technology, they added.
"In partnership with our stakeholders we will continue
to target the highest risk sectors and those that seek to abuse them.
"The AFP, in partnership with law enforcement and
intelligence agencies in Australia and overseas, work to dismantle and deter
transnational money laundering networks."
Echoing these sentiments, an AUSTRAC spokesperson said the
watchdog regulates more than 16,000 entities like banks, credit unions, and
casinos that are obligated to report to them if they uncover any suspicious
transactions.
"Criminals will always seek to exploit the financial
system to launder their money and harm the community, that is why it is so
important that regulated businesses take their anti-money laundering
obligations seriously," the AUSTRAC spokesperson told Yahoo Finance.
University of New South Wales academic Michael Salter told
NCA Newswire that sexual content of minors was already being uploaded to the
site.
Working with international partners, he last year came
across a Twitter profile advertising an OnlyFans account.
“It had about 25,000 followers and was advertising a very
young model who was male,” Salter said.
“We requested an assessment from a forensic paediatrician,
who confirmed that the individual could be no older than 13 or 14, based on his
physiological characteristics.”
US authorities were contacted and both the Twitter and
OnlyFans accounts were subsequently taken down.
Comments
Post a Comment