Threats
Violent online networks: what parents need to know
A newer, more extreme threat is spreading through gaming and chat apps: loosely organized networks that manipulate and blackmail kids into self-harm, cruelty, or violence. The FBI has issued national warnings about it. Speed, calm, and reporting to the right place matter most.
What are violent online networks like 764 and "the Com"?
Researchers and law enforcement use names like "764" and "the Com" for a loose, often anonymous network of online groups that target children and teens, mostly through Discord, Telegram, and gaming chat. Unlike typical grooming, the goal usually isn't sexual contact. It's control: humiliating, isolating, and in the most extreme cases coercing a child into self-harm, animal cruelty, or violence, often filmed and shared inside the group for status. The FBI classifies this activity as Nihilistic Violent Extremism (NVE) and issued a national warning to parents about it in March 2025, after tracking arrests tied to the network across dozens of countries.
How do these networks target and control kids?
- Contact usually starts somewhere ordinary: a public game lobby, a Discord server, or a comment section, with friendly, low-pressure conversation
- A private request, often for a photo or video, becomes leverage the moment it's shared
- Threats escalate from there: share the material, dox the family's home address, or "swat" the house (sending an armed police response with a fake emergency call) if the child refuses or tells an adult
- Victims are sometimes pressured to recruit or harm someone else "to prove loyalty" and move up in the group
- The network deliberately targets vulnerable, isolated, or lonely kids, the same way traditional groomers do
What are the warning signs?
- Sudden withdrawal from family, friends, or activities they used to enjoy
- Secretive phone or device use, or hiding screens when you walk in
- Unexplained cuts, burns, or other injuries
- Gift cards, cash, or in-game currency arriving with no clear source
- Fear, anxiety, or evasiveness about a specific online "friend" or group
- New interest in extremist, violent, or animal-cruelty content
- References to being "tested" or needing to prove something online
What should you do if you suspect your child is involved?
- Stay calm, and make clear your child isn't in trouble. Shame is exactly what keeps kids silent in these cases
- Don't try to unmask, confront, or negotiate with the network yourself
- Don't delete anything. Screenshots, usernames, and message history help investigators
- Report it: in the US, to the FBI at tips.fbi.gov and to NCMEC's CyberTipline at report.cybertip.org
- If there's any sign of active self-harm or suicidal thinking, treat it as a crisis and get help right away
- Outside the US, use our contact list to find your country's police, cybercrime unit, and crisis line
If a child is in immediate danger
Call your local emergency number first. In the US, also report to the FBI at tips.fbi.gov and to NCMEC at report.cybertip.org. If there's any risk of self-harm or suicide, call or text 988. Outside the US, find your country's police, cybercrime unit, and crisis line on our contact list.