Online violence groups like 764 are threatening the lives of young people. Here’s how to protect your children
Teenagers across the United States are being recruited, groomed, and extorted by a network of online predators known as 764, which specializes in forcing minors to perform sex acts and self-harm on camera, and in some cases, encourage teen suicide.
Here’s what parents need to know to keep their children safe on the internet and to report online exploitation based on information from the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations.
What is 764 and how children are recruited
The term “764” is used to describe a loose network of violent online groups that target teenagers (usually girls between the ages of 10 and 17 with mental health issues) around the world.
They often groom their victims by forming friendly or romantic relationships, then threaten to dox them, post their personally identifiable information online, or swat them to report a false 911 threat at their home.
Once a predator obtains a recording of self-harm or child sexual abuse, they continue to blackmail the teen to create more recordings. These groups seek to desensitize children by sharing violent content such as rapes and beheadings, making them easier to manipulate.
In the later stages of the abuse, they may try to force the victim to commit suicide.
How to protect your privacy online
Members of groups such as 764 will recruit teenagers through many forms of social media, gaming and messaging platforms.
“Anything that’s connected and potentially exists in the cyber world, they can target,” said Amir Ehsaei, special agent in charge of the FBI’s counterterrorism division in Los Angeles. “They can be anywhere.”
The Times interviewed victims of these groups who said they were recruited on Discord. Roblox is also a well-known platform where adults can easily make friends with minors.
Parents can take simple steps to improve their children’s online safety, starting with making all apps, games, and social media private and not allowing these platforms to access location services.
Parents should also engage their children in conversations about online best practices. This includes only accepting requests from friends you know in real life, never exiting the game to chat with people you meet online on different platforms, never replying to messages from strangers, and contacting an adult as soon as someone makes them feel uncomfortable online.
Parents should also discuss exit plans in case minors find themselves in unsafe online spaces and make sure children know they won’t be blamed or get into trouble if they become the victim of abuse.
“Something can happen to even the nicest kids,” said Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Theo Cushing. It’s important that minors have a “non-judgmental space to say, ‘Hey, I stumbled upon something terrible. Something bad happened,'” he said.
Warning signs of possible exploitation
Children discussing fears or obsessions with new online friends may be a sign that groups like 764 have begun recruiting members. Members can also recruit teenagers through gifts such as money, game currency and other virtual items.
The idealization of a mass shooting or mass casualty event may mean the indoctrination of one of these groups, which exposes children to extremely violent content.
As the abuse progresses, the minor may withdraw from friends and activities, exhibit increased moodiness, weight loss, and changes in sleeping habits.
Parents should also watch for physical signs of abuse. These groups have been known to ask children to carve their names into their skin with razor blades. Adults should also be aware of other types of self-injury, such as scratches, bruises, bite marks and burns. Children wearing long sleeves and long pants in hot weather may be a sign that they are hiding self-harm.
Predators may ask children to harm their pets. A family pet that dies under suspicious circumstances or becomes unusually afraid of your child may be a sign that the child has been taken advantage of by one of these groups.
What to do if you or your child are abused
Victims of sextortion should never pay or send more content to their predator, as doing so will make the exploitation worse. If your child is in immediate danger of committing suicide, call 911.
Online utilization should be reported immediately. We encourage minors to save all content, including images, videos and text, which will help criminal investigators track down the perpetrators and prevent them from harming more minors.
If you believe someone is a victim of child sexual exploitation, or you are a victim yourself, you can call the Know2Protect reporting hotline at 833-591-5669. Information received through the tip line will be reviewed and submitted to the HSI field office for possible investigation. You can report cyber crimes to the FBI at www.ic3.gov
You can also call 1-800-843-5678 or submit a CyberTipline report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
The center offers a service called “Take It Down,” which helps underage victims delete or stop sharing their sexually explicit material online, even if they are now adults.
Other resources
A year ago, the Department of Homeland Security launched Know2Protect, a national public awareness campaign to educate children and parents about combating online child sexual exploitation.
The campaign provides education, explains how to report, and provides response and support resources for victims of online child sexual exploitation.
Community members can also request a demonstration on how to protect children and youth through the iGuardian project. These presentations are delivered by HSI agents and other subject matter experts to schools, community groups, businesses and nonprofit organizations.
Send an email to iguardian.hq@hsi.dhs.gov to request an iGuardian demo.
