Teens across America are being recruited, groomed and extorted by network of online predators known as 764 that specializes in coercing minors to perform sexual acts and self-harm on camera and, in some cases, encourages teens to kill themselves.
Here is what parents need to know to keep their children safe on the internet and report online exploitation based on information provided by the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations.
What is 764 and how does it recruit children
The term 764 is used to describe a loose network of violent online groups that prey on youth — typically girls between the ages of 10 to 17 struggling with mental health — across the world.
They often groom their victims by establishing a friendly or romantic relationship and then threaten to dox them, publish their personally identifiable information online, or SWAT them, report a false 911 threat at their home.
Once predators have obtained recordings of self-harm or child sexual abuse they continue to blackmail the youth to produce more. The groups try to desensitize children and make them more easy to manipulate by sharing violent content such as rape and beheadings.
In later stages of abuse, they may attempt to coerce victims into committing suicide.
How to protect privacy online
Members of groups like 764 will recruit teens across many forms of social media, gaming and messaging platforms.
“Anything that has a connection and can be in the online 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 spoke to victims of these groups who said that they were recruited on Discord. Roblox is also a known platform where adults can easily befriend minors.
Parents can take simple steps to increase their child’s safety online, starting with setting all apps, games and social media to private and not permitting these platforms to access location services.
Parents should also engage children in conversations about best practices online. This includes accepting requests only from friends they know in real life, never exiting a game to chat on a different platform with someone they met online, never responding to messages from strangers and reaching out to adults as soon as someone makes them uncomfortable online.
Parents should also talk through exit plans in case that minors find themselves in an unsafe space online and ensure kids know that they are not to blame or in trouble if they become victims of abuse.
“Even the best kid can stumble into something,” said Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Theo Cushing. It’s important minors have a “judgment-free space to say, ‘hey, I stumbled something terrible. Something bad happened,’” he said.
Warning signs of possible exploitation
Children discussing fear or obsession with a new online friend may indicate early days of recruitment into groups like 764. Members may also recruit youth with gifts such as money, gaming currency and other virtual items.
Idealization of mass shootings or mass casualty events could indicate indoctrination into one of these groups, which expose kids to extremely violent content.
As abuse progresses minors may withdraw from friends and activities, display increased moodiness and experience loss of weight and changes in sleeping habits.
Parents should also be aware of physical signs of abuse. These groups are known to ask children to cut their names into their skin with razor blades. Adults should also look out for other types of self-harm such as scratches, bruises, bite marks and burns. Children wearing long sleeves and pants in hot weather is a possible indicator they are hiding self-harm.
Predators may ask children to hurt their pets. A family pet dying under suspicious circumstances or becoming uncharacteristically fearful of your child, could be a sign a child has been exploited by one of these groups.
What to do if you or your child is being abused
Victims of sextortion should never pay their predators or send more content as doing so will make the exploitation worse. If your child appears at immediate risk of suicide dial 911.
Online exploitation should be reported immediately. Minors are encouraged to save everything — including images, videos and texts — that will help criminal investigators go after the perpetrator and prevent them from victimizing more minors.
If you believe someone is the victim of child sexual exploitation, or you are a victim, you can call the Know2Protect Tipline at 833-591-5669. Information received through the tip line will be reviewed and referred to HSI field offices for potential investigation. You can report an internet crime 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 minor victims remove or stop the sharing of their sexually explicit content online even if they are now an adult.
Other resources
A year ago, the Department of Homeland Security launched Know2Protect, a national public awareness campaign to teach children and parents to combat online child sexual exploitation.
The campaign offers education, explains how to report and also offers response and support resources for victims of online child sexual exploitation.
Community members can also request a presentation on ways to protect children and teens through Project iGuardian. The presentations are delivered by HSI special agents and other subject matter experts at to schools, community groups, corporations and nonprofit organizations.
Email iguardian.hq@hsi.dhs.gov to request an iGuardian presentation.
