Former FBI agent reveals how dad and mom can defend children from harmful 764 group

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After the FBI launched an investigation right into a sophisticated criminal network concentrating on children and teenagers on-line often called "764," a former FBI agent is offering dad and mom with sensible tricks to hold their kids secure.

Dr. Stephen Boyce, CEO and president of the Cyber Physician and former forensic analyst with the FBI , defined to Fox Information Digital that the group originated round 2021 and has grown into a worldwide menace.

"The 764 Group is a decentralized community of neo-Nazi, satanic ideology and is tied to a gaggle referred to as the Order of 9 Angels," mentioned Boyce.

What units this group aside is its fragmented but coordinated construction, with members spreading their affect throughout common social media and gaming platforms.

FBI TARGETS 250 SUSPECTS IN '764' NETWORK OF ONLINE PREDATORS MANIPULATING KIDS INTO VIOLENT, EXPLICIT VIDEOS

The FBI launched an investigation into a complicated legal community concentrating on children and teenagers on-line often called "764." (Annette Riedl/image alliance through Getty Photographs)

Unpacking 764: Initially traced again to a U.S.-based founder who was later sentenced to 80 years in jail, the group has since expanded its attain. The FBI just lately shared that it's investigating at the very least 250 incidents tied to the group.

" The FBI is investigating at the very least 250 topics who're tied to violent on-line networks generally known as '764’ however contains many offshoot networks and names," the FBI informed Fox Information in an announcement on Tuesday night. "All 55 FBI discipline workplaces throughout the nation are concerned in these investigations."

The predators are identified for concentrating on minors on social media and utilizing coercion to get them to movie themselves committing violent or sexual acts, after which utilizing these movies to extort minors for growing violent or sexual movies which are then shared with "764" followers on-line.

Boyce warned that "the frequent one which definitely hits all of the headlines is Roblox in addition to Discord", noting that whereas these platforms aren't inherently malicious, their communication options have been exploited by predators.

Mainstream apps that many younger adults use, like TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram and X, aren't proof against misuse, he mentioned.

"I believe something the place you've got the flexibility to speak with another person warrants dad and mom being conscious of who their children are interacting with," he mentioned.

The predators are identified for concentrating on minors on social media and utilizing coercion to get them to movie themselves committing violent or sexual acts. (iStock)

Boyce mentioned an equally regarding issue is the group's use of psychological techniques to entrap victims . "One of the frequent techniques is love bombing and entering into these faux on-line relationships," mentioned Boyce.

The manipulation can result in minors sending compromising content material or performing disturbing acts.

"There may be fairly a little bit of that sextortion, in addition to numerous various things and the usage of encoded language," Boyce defined, pointing to the usage of speaking by memes and coded language.

The group’s endgame could be particularly tragic. In some circumstances, the 764 community pushes its victims towards livestreamed self-harm and even suicide. "They do promote self-harm," he mentioned. "Kids have been requested to self-harm and write their identify in their very own blood."

These acts are sometimes used as rites of passage throughout the group, additional binding victims into its poisonous tradition, he defined.

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A former FBI agent is offering dad and mom with sensible tricks to hold their kids secure. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP through Getty Photographs)

Parenting Pointers: Yaron Litwin, the CMO at Cover Parental Management App, informed Fox Information Digital that limiting display time "is not sufficient."

"It is not sufficient to place display closing dates in place. It is not sufficient to install parental controls . Mothers and dads must be proactive and preserve an open line of dialogue with their children on on-line security subjects, and will do their greatest to enact and implement family guidelines, which can at the very least considerably neutralize actual threats like 764," he mentioned.

Figuring out what apps kids are utilizing, who they're speaking with, and monitoring any shifts in conduct could be lifesaving. Mother and father ought to hold an eye fixed out for secrecy round on-line actions, sudden romantic entanglements, uncommon meme utilization, animal cruelty and any indicators of self-harm.

"As an illustration, newfound shows of irritability, rising secrecy about their machine use and all of the sudden showing to be socially withdrawn can all be indicators of rising publicity to 764 or different harmful or dangerous on-line teams," he mentioned. "A sudden lack of curiosity of their offline lives and continually in search of privateness will also be suspicious indicators.

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"In case your child is experiencing indicators like these, react with warning and care — not panic."

Fox Information Digital's Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.

Sarah Rumpf-Whitten is a U.S. Author at Fox Information Digital.

Since becoming a member of in 2021, she’s coated high-stakes legal justice—from the Menendez brothers’ resentencing , the place Choose Jesic slashed their life-without-parole phrases to 50-years-to-life (making them parole-eligible), to the assassination makes an attempt on President Donald Trump's life and shifting immigration enforcement, together with her reporting on South Florida’s illegal-immigration crisis , protecting unprecedented migrant crossings from the Bahamas and ensuing enforcement operations.

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