Real people only: why every new account now pays and passes an ID check before it can do anything
Since 3 November 2026, a new account here cannot message, comment, heart, follow, upload or write a profile until it has paid for a membership and passed an identity check. Why that stops the scams we see most, and what it is costing us.
We have one goal for this site: that the person on the other side of every conversation is real. Not most of the time, and not after someone has reported them, but before they send their first message.
Since 3 November 2026, that is how it works. A new account can look around, but it cannot message anyone, comment, heart a post, follow a seller, upload a photo or write a profile until it has paid for a membership and passed the identity check. This post explains what changed, why it stops the scams we see most, and what it is costing us. We think it is worth every bit of it.
What a new account can do now
| What you want to do | What it needs |
|---|---|
| Browse the live feed, seller profiles and galleries | Nothing in most countries, not even an account |
| Report a profile, post, comment or message | Nothing: the report form is open to everyone |
| Heart a post, follow a seller or leave a comment | A membership, then the identity check |
| Upload a profile picture, or write your profile text as a buyer | A membership, then the identity check |
| Upload photos and videos, and appear in the seller directory | A membership, then the identity check |
| Message, call or join a livestream | A membership that includes it, then the identity check |
The identity check is included in every membership, and it starts only after the payment. So for every new account, buyer or seller, the order is the same: pay, then verify, then everything opens. Where the law requires an age check before any member photo is shown, even browsing waits for both.
Why both, and why in that order
The identity check is not new. It ties every account to a real adult with a real document and a face that matches it, and it removed the disposable account that almost every scam depends on. Why everyone here shows ID explains it in full.
What was missing was a cost. Anyone could create an account for free, start a check for free, and try again with another account. A scam is a numbers game: open many accounts, write to hundreds of people, expect most of them to ignore you, and wait for the few who pay. That only works when an account costs nothing to open and nothing to lose.
Now every new account costs something before it can reach anyone:
- A year paid in advance. Somebody who plans to take one payment and disappear does not want to pay for a year first.
- A real identity document and a face that matches it, checked by our verification partner after the payment.
- No second chance under a new name. When we close an account for scamming, its email address and its identity document are blocked. Coming back would take another payment, another person's document and that person's face.
The payment sorts the serious from the casual. The identity check sorts the real from the fake. Together, they take away what a scam needs most: an account that is cheap to throw away.
What this does to the scams we see most
The buyer who is not really buying. A fake payment screenshot, a cheque for too much and a request to send back the difference, a link to "claim" money waiting for you: these arrive in sellers' inboxes from brand-new accounts, written to dozens of sellers at once. Every one of those accounts now has to pay and pass the check before it writes a single word.
The seller who is not really selling. Stolen photos, a payment taken, then silence. A new seller now pays and passes the check before their first upload, and before they appear in the seller directory or anywhere else a buyer could find them. When the photos are reported, the account goes, and so does the way back.
The stranger who reaches sellers by posing as one. Fake agencies, "managers" and promoters often sign up as sellers to get at other sellers. Sellers here cannot message, call or watch each other, so the only way to reach a seller is as a buyer, and a buyer pays and verifies first.
Fake activity. Hearts, follows and comments all need the identity check, so a batch of throwaway accounts cannot make a profile look popular, crowd a seller's comments or fill their notifications. And since 5 November, a new buyer has to pay and pass the check before writing a word of the profile text that sellers read.
What it costs us
Being straight about this: it hurts. Since 3 November, most people who create an account open the plans page and leave. Some delete their account the same day and tell us it costs too much. Sellers who would once have listed for free now have to decide whether a year here is worth it before a single buyer has seen them, and many decide that it is not.
| What we changed | What it costs us |
|---|---|
| Payment before the identity check | Most new sign-ups stop at the plans page |
| New sellers pay before they are listed | Far fewer new sellers each day |
| No free trial | Buyers who wanted to try one conversation first |
| Hearts, follows and comments need the check | Less activity on the feed from new visitors |
We knew all of this when we made the change, and we made it anyway. A site full of accounts nobody can vouch for is worth nothing to the people on it, however busy it looks. Sellers stay where they feel safe, buyers come back where the sellers are real, and neither happens on a site that scammers treat as free.
If that means growing more slowly, we grow more slowly. We are not going to trade it away to make the numbers look better.
Here is the honest part
- Paying and passing the check proves that someone is a real adult who means it. It does not prove that they are honest. A real person can still lie, so keep using your judgement.
- We cannot get money back for you. Buyers pay sellers directly and we never hold the funds, so we cannot reverse a payment sent to someone who does not deliver.
- A new seller gets one thing before paying: a plain "joined" card on the live feed with their username and nothing else. No photo, no link and no way to follow or message them, and a username that looks like a handle on another app is not shown. It lets buyers see who is arriving, and it gives a scammer nothing to point at.
- Not every seller pays. Sellers who were here before 3 November keep everything free, as we promised them. Every one of them still passes the same identity check before they can upload, message or appear anywhere.
What you can do
The rules do most of the work. One habit covers the rest: keep the conversation here. Here, there is a person behind every name who has paid and shown ID, a block button and a report form. Off the site there is none of that, and anyone who pushes you to another app, whatever reason they give, is telling you something.
- Spotted something? Use the report form, reachable from every profile, post, comment and message.
- Want the warning signs? Read Feet pic scams: 8 red flags and the staying safe guide.
- Ready to start? Pick a membership on the plans page, then follow the verification guide.
- Anything else is in the FAQ.
Every account here now costs something to open and too much to throw away. That is exactly how we want it.