The FBI is warning the public of a sharp increase in activity by a group known as “764” and other violent online networks that are strategically targeting young and vulnerable people, including in Missouri.
The criminals shop for potential victims online and pretend to be their friend. Once they earn the trust of the children, they try to convince their victims to harm themselves, hurt animals, engage in sexual acts, and attempt murder or suicide.
St. Louis FBI Special Agent in Charge Ashley Johnson told Missourinet then they threaten and manipulate these people into making, sharing, or live-streaming these acts.
“Then they take that and they continue to blackmail the individual, saying, ‘Hey, if you don’t do this, then I’m going to take that film that I have of you hurting an animal or whatever it may be, and I’m going to send it to your friends and family.’ And certainly, that puts the victims in this case in a position where they feel that they may be outed, they may be in some type of trouble,” said Johnson.
The groups may threaten to prank call 911 to send out armed police officers to a particular address. Or they may say they will publish private or identifying information about the victim on the internet.
Johnson said in some cases, the group can force their victims into eventually victimizing others.
“If they have siblings, they threaten, ‘Hey, you engage in this sexually exploiting behavior with your sibling, or I’m going to tell your family. They are using these videos to further exploit and to further solicit compliance and loyalty from these individuals,” Johnson told Missourinet.
The criminals might start out with convincing their victims to cut themselves or engage in sexual acts. The end-goal of many members is to force the victims they extort into committing murder or suicide on live-stream for their own entertainment or their own sense of fame.
According to Johnson, the groups are looking for potential victims on publicly-available social media sites, chat rooms, gaming platforms, dating sites, and mobile applications.
“They identify an underage person or a vulnerable person who may exhibit signs or express depression or anxiety, or they’re having trouble in school, or having trouble at home with their parents,” said Johnson.
The groups often prey upon underage females, but anyone is a target. Victims are typically between the ages of 10 and 17 years old, but the FBI has seen some victims as young as 9 years old. The groups may also look for LGBTQ+ youth and racial minorities.
Recent cases involving members of the 764 group have been prosecuted in Michigan and Kentucky.
Johnson is advising family and friends to look out for warning signs of potential victims, such as sudden behavior changes, getting anonymous gifts delivered, and a new online “friend” they spend a lot of time with.
The FBI urges the public to take precautionary steps, including:
• Looking for fresh cuts, bruises, wounds, and scars in unusual patterns;
• Looking for sudden behavior and appearance changes;
• Being attentive to children wearing long sleeves or pants in unusual circumstances;
• Monitoring children’s online activity and discussing the risks of sharing information and content;
• Running frequent online searches of family and children’s information (e.g., full name, address, phone number, etc.) to help identify and prevent the spread of personal information on the internet;
• Using discretion when posting images, videos, and personal content online, particularly those that include children or their information.
• Applying privacy settings on social media accounts — including setting profiles and your friends’ lists as private — to limit the public exposure of your photos, videos, and other personal information.
• Using reverse image search engines to locate any photos or videos that have circulated on the internet without your knowledge.
• Be cautious about accepting friend requests, communicating, engaging in video conversations, or sending images to people, you do not know personally. Those items could be screen-captured, recorded, manipulated, shared without your knowledge or consent, and used to exploit you or someone you know.
• Do not provide any unknown or unfamiliar people with money or other items of value. Complying with the criminals does not guarantee your sensitive photos or content will not be shared.
• Use discretion when interacting with known people online who appear to be acting outside their normal pattern of behavior. People with malicious intent can easily manipulate hacked social media accounts.
• Secure social media and other online accounts using complex passwords or passphrases and multi-factor authentication.
• Research the privacy, data sharing, and data retention policies of social media platforms, apps, and websites before uploading and sharing images, videos, or other personal content.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has a resource for parents to use to teach and discuss with their children about online safety:
https://www.missingkids.org/netsmartz/resources
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