An agency messaged me on Instagram. Is it real?

Agencies sell labor. A page with any following gets more messages than one person can answer while also making content, so management companies run the inbox and the promotion for a cut of what the page earns. That cut only exists if they sign creators, and recruiting is the front end of the business.

Some firms wait for applications. Plenty of people pretending to be a firm scrape Instagram and TikTok for anyone who looks like a creator and send the same pitch to every account that looks like a creator. The DM itself tells you nothing. The check does.

• Legal entity name. Ask for the registered business name and where it is registered, then look it up yourself: your state's business search in the US, the corporate registry in Canada, the ASIC register in Australia. No entity, or a name that does not match, ends it.
• Domain age. Go to lookup.icann.org, type the bare domain without www, and read the Created Date. If the record is masked, put the domain into archive.org/web and see when the first snapshot appears.
• A human on a video call. Ask for a call with the person who would manage you, camera on. A face, a name you can search and specific answers about your page are harder to fake.
• References you find yourself. Ask for two or three current creators, then contact them through their own public pages, not through a handle the agency hands you.

• Any upfront fee. Setup, onboarding, a deposit, a course. The FTC's advice on job scams is that no legitimate employer asks you to pay to get a job. An agency earns when you earn.
• ID or face photos before a signed contract. Your age and identity get verified with the platform, by you. An agency has no reason to hold your passport, and once sent you cannot take it back.
• Pressure to sign today. "The spot closes tonight" is a sales line, not a deadline. Creator guides say a fair agency gives you at least a week with the contract.

If the check passes, the first proper call is about terms, not hype.

• Scope. Which platforms, who answers the chat and during which hours, what promotion runs where, how often you get a report. Written down.
• Split basis. The percentage matters less than what it is taken from. Ask whether the cut comes off gross or off what lands after the platform's fee, and whether tips and customs count.
• Exit terms. How long the initial term runs, how much notice you give, what it costs to leave, and what happens to your accounts, content and subscriber list the day after.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Some of these messages are real, and a real agency does not mind being checked. Stay polite and give nothing away. Something like: Thanks for reaching out. Before I look at anything, can you send the registered business name, your website and two current creators I can contact directly? Happy to do a video call after that.

Then wait. A real agency sends the three things. A fake one argues, flatters or pushes a deadline. Keep it in writing, leave your password out of it, and send no payment or document before a signed contract.

Showgirl is a management agency for OnlyFans and Fansly creators in the US, Canada and Australia. Applying is free. The application asks for your IG or TikTok handle, a name, one way to reach you and the platforms you are on. About a minute, free, and it commits you to nothing. Chat support runs 24/7, growth runs on Instagram, TikTok and Reddit, and the social media shield covers a stage name, separate emails, clean link pages and location blocking where the platform allows it. 18+ only. Run the same check on Showgirl as on anyone else.