As mentioned in another comment there is a cost associated to creating an account on Steem blockchain. When you create your account on Steem blochchain using the Steemit interface the charges are paid by the Steem Inc. Since they are paying on your behalf for creating the accounts they make sure that no duplicate accounts are created by verifying your phone and mail.
If you are ok spending some Steem you can follow the steps from https://steemit.com/utopian-io/@roxane/how-to-create-a-new-steem-account-with-steemconnect for creating a new account.