For many in the adult industry, social media platforms are more than just digital hangouts; they are the bedrock of a professional career. Patrick Bewley, a 60-year-old OnlyFans creator known online as “Daddy Patrick,” spent two years building a following of 132,000 on X (formerly Twitter). To him, this follower count served as a digital resume, establishing his credibility and signaling his status as a key player in a competitive market. However, in April, this carefully curated professional identity was snatched away in an instant, turning his timeline from a hub of personal brand content into a megaphone for political extremism, leaving him to navigate the fallout of a targeted digital extortion scheme.
The nightmare began with a simple, calculated deception. Bewley received a direct message from a trusted peer, porn director Jasun Mark, inviting him to nominate him for an award. Because the request sounded like something a colleague would authentically ask, Bewley didn’t hesitate to engage. He followed a link that appeared to be a standard login page for X, but after entering his credentials, nothing seemed to happen. It wasn’t until he spoke with Mark later that he realized his friend’s account had been compromised and the “nomination” had been a hollow trap. By the time Bewley went to check his own profile, he had already been locked out, and the attackers were busy scrubbing his identity from the account.
The mechanics of the hack were cold and efficient. The intruders systematically changed Bewley’s email address, phone number, and account handle, effectively severing his connection to his own digital life. Within hours, his brand—which was defined by his specific niche—was hijacked for a radically different purpose. His avatar and banner were replaced with menacing imagery, including pictures of Steven Bannon and links to extremist podcasts. It became clear that the attackers weren’t interested in his content; they were interested in the reach of his account, repurposing his massive, pre-existing audience to amplify political propaganda and push extremist agendas.
The intent behind the takeover was purely financial, framed as a classic extortion plot. The hijackers initially demanded a ransom of $2,000 in GAT crypto to return the account, showing no hesitation when confronted by Bewley’s partner in the comment section. When it became clear that Bewley would not be bullied into paying the ransom, the hackers escalated their tactics, personally messaging his employer at Ducati Studios to demand $3,000. It was a calculated attempt to squeeze money from both the creator and the company, treating his digital reputation as a commodity to be held hostage until the highest bidder emerged.
When the extortion attempts failed, the hackers retreated into a cycle of automated disruption. Bewley’s account began spewing 20 to 30 pro-MAGA posts daily, filling his feed with content that stood in direct contradiction to his personal brand and public image. For his followers, the abrupt and bizarre shift was jarring, but for Bewley, it was a profound violation. His partner eventually stopped trying to negotiate, realizing that the hackers were more interested in weaponizing the account’s reach than actually negotiating a fair return. The process left him essentially powerless, watching as his hard-earned influence was leveraged to spread political rhetoric he did not endorse.
Ultimately, the loss of this account illustrates the fragile nature of digital influence in the era of crypto-scams. In the adult industry, where an X following functions as a primary ranking system for professional opportunities, the theft of an account is akin to identity theft in the corporate world. Bewley, who had achieved a rare level of success for someone entering the industry at 60, found himself sidelined not because his content failed, but because he was targeted by a sophisticated scheme that weaponized trust. While the hackers succeeded in hijacking his platform, they failed to account for the human cost, leaving a dedicated professional to pick up the pieces of a reputation built meticulously over years, now dismantled in just a few clicks.
