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Sole Brief. The Monthly Brief
Safety

Staying Safe

Selling foot content is a real way to earn money, and most of the risk in it is predictable. The same handful of scams turn up again and again, and the same few habits stop the most common ones. Here are those habits, what to do if something has already gone wrong, and where every piece of advice comes from.

If you remember one thing

Keep the sale on the platform, get paid before you deliver, and never pay to get paid.

Almost every scam on this page needs you to break one of those three. A real buyer on a real platform never asks you to.

Checked October 6, 2026Every rule here is drawn from an official source.
15 official sourcesListed at the end, each one linked.
Help is freePolice and nonprofits never charge to help you.
01

Five rules before you upload anything

The habits that stop the most common scams before they start.

Rule 1

Be 18 or over

Selling images of yourself is for adults only, and most platforms check ID before you can sell or be paid. If you're under 18, don't sell images of yourself anywhere. Anyone who asks you to is someone to report.

Rule 2

Keep the sale on the platform

A marketplace that takes the payment sits between you and the buyer. The moment a buyer asks to move to another app, an email or a payment link, that protection is gone. That's exactly why scammers ask.

Rule 3

Get paid before you deliver

No free samples, no "proof" pictures, no sending first because the money is supposedly on its way. A real buyer on a real platform pays first.

Rule 4

Never pay to get paid

No real buyer or platform asks you to buy a gift card, pay an "unlock" or "verification" fee, or send back an overpayment. In the FTC's words: "Anyone who insists that you pay by gift card is always a scammer."

Rule 5

Keep your selling self separate

Use a separate email address and a username that appears nowhere else. Turn location off in your camera, and keep anything recognizable out of the frame: a tattoo, a distinctive rug, mail on a table, a reflection.

The quick test

If a buyer's request means leaving the platform, paying first or sending first, the answer is no. You don't owe anyone an explanation.

02

What platforms check, and what they don't

A platform protects what happens inside it. Nothing outside it.

Expect to be asked for government photo ID before a platform lets you sell or pays you out. That check keeps out minors and fake accounts. It also means "anonymous" selling has a limit: buyers don't see your legal name, but the platform knows it, and your earnings may need to be reported for tax where you live.

Protected

Inside the platform

When a sale runs through a platform's own checkout, its rules work for you.

  • The buyer pays through the platform, so you never have to trust a screenshot.
  • You can see the money land in your own balance before you deliver anything.
  • Payouts follow the fees and schedule the platform publishes.
  • Your messages stay on the platform, so there's a record if you need to report someone.
  • Support and reporting tools can act on accounts that break the rules.
Not protected

Outside the platform

Once a sale leaves the platform, its protection stays behind.

  • Payment by another app, a payment link, a gift card or crypto.
  • A screenshot of a "payment" you can't see in your own balance.
  • Chats moved to another app or email, where the platform can't see or step in.
  • Your photos reposted or resold somewhere else.
  • Deals with "managers" or "agencies" that aren't the platform itself.

One grey area sits inside every platform: if a buyer reverses a charge after you deliver, who carries the cost depends on that platform's own terms. Read that part, along with payouts and fees, before you sell anywhere.

03

The scams worth knowing

The ones that come up again and again, and what to do about each.

The scam
What it looks like
What to do
Move it off the platform
A buyer wants to chat or pay on another app, by email or through a link.
Say no and stay put. Report the account if they push.
Free samples or "proof"
A buyer wants a picture first to show you're real.
Your profile is the proof. Nothing is sent before payment.
Fake payment screenshot
An image of a "completed" payment that never reaches your balance.
Only trust your own account balance on the platform.
Overpayment
They "accidentally" pay too much and ask you to send the difference back.
Never send money back. The original payment is fake.
Unlock or verification fee
You're told to pay, often by gift card or crypto, to release your earnings.
Never pay to get paid. Report it.
Chargeback after delivery
A buyer pays, receives the content, then reverses the charge.
Check who carries chargebacks on the platform's record.
Escalating requests
Small, ordinary asks that keep pushing past what you agreed to.
Your limits don't change because someone keeps asking.
Fishing for details
Questions about your name, city, job or other accounts.
Keep your selling self separate. Don't answer.
Blackmail
A threat to "expose" you or share your photos unless you pay or send more.
Stop contact, don't pay, keep the evidence. See section 04.
Stolen photos
Your images turn up for sale or on another site.
You likely own the copyright. See section 04.
Fake agencies or managers
Someone offers to run your account for a cut, or wants your login.
Never share your login. Real platforms don't need a middleman.
04

If it's happening right now

Slow down. Nothing a scammer says is as urgent as they make it sound.

  1. Stop and save.Stop replying and don't pay anything. Screenshot the messages, the profile and any payment details before you block. Don't delete anything.
  2. Tell the platform.Report the account where you met the buyer, with your screenshots.
  3. Report lost money.If money was taken, report it where you live, using the list below.
Where you live
Report it to
Phone
United States
1-877-FTC-HELP
Canada
Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, and your local police
1-888-495-8501
England, Wales, Northern Ireland
Report Fraud, which replaced Action Fraud on December 4, 2025
0300 123 2040
Scotland
Police Scotland
101
Australia
Scamwatch, and ReportCyber for a police report
Online
Blackmail

Someone is threatening to expose you

Don't pay and don't send more. The FBI and the RCMP give the same advice: stop contact, don't pay, keep the evidence. Report it to your local police. In the US, also report to the FBI at tips.fbi.gov or ic3.gov. In Canada, also report to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. Help is free; the FBI has warned about companies that charge for "sextortion help".

Stolen photos

Your photos were reposted without permission

Tools built for intimate images, like StopNCII, NCMEC's Take It Down and the US TAKE IT DOWN Act, cover nude or sexually explicit images, so ordinary foot photos generally fall outside them. Your main tool is usually copyright: the person who takes a photo generally owns it, and in the US a Section 512 takedown notice to the site or its host is the standard route.

05

Before you sign up anywhere

Lookalike sites and apps exist, and one could collect your ID and your content.

Next step

Check the platform is real

Five minutes of checks: the real address, the real app, the company behind it, its terms and how money moves. Is This Platform Real? walks you through each one.

The registry

Compare what platforms publish

Each record shows the official website, who runs the platform, how it pays and the date we last checked it. See the platforms.

06

Sources

Checked October 6, 2026. Every link opens the original in a new tab.

  1. How to spot, avoid, and report fake check scamsUS Federal Trade Commission, modified August 13, 2026
  2. Did someone tell you to pay with gift cards? It's a scamUS Federal Trade Commission, consumer alert, September 2020
  3. ReportFraud.ftc.govUS Federal Trade Commission
  4. Sextortion: a growing threatFBI field office public service announcement, January 22, 2024
  5. Sextortion public service announcementFBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, September 2, 2021
  6. Warning on paid "sextortion help" servicesFBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, April 7, 2023
  7. Sextortion: it's a scam, it's trending, you can make it stopRoyal Canadian Mounted Police, modified May 27, 2024
  8. Reporting fraud and cybercrimeCanadian Anti-Fraud Centre, updated November 27, 2025
  9. Report Fraud: new service from City of London PoliceGOV.UK, December 4, 2025, updated July 20, 2026
  10. Report a scamScamwatch, modified January 28, 2026
  11. StopNCII.orgEligibility and scope
  12. Take It DownNational Center for Missing & Exploited Children, modified October 31, 2024
  13. FTC begins enforcing the TAKE IT DOWN ActUS Federal Trade Commission, May 19, 2026; law text at govinfo.gov (Public Law 119-12)
  14. Section 512 resourcesUS Copyright Office
  15. Personal Safety User Guide: removing location from photosApple, September 2026

Seen a scam that isn't on this page, or a source that's out of date? Contact the desk.