The Frightening Reality of Online Predators

The Department of Justice is calling on parents, caregivers, teachers, and community
members to join law enforcement in the fight against a dangerous and growing category of
online predators. These networks, often referred to as "764" or "Nihilistic Violent
Extremism" (NVE), represent a decentralized extremist subculture that weaponizes digital
platforms to exploit and radicalize children. These perpetrators also may be engaging in
criminal activity for sexual gratification, seeing an opening to prey on children. Other
individuals may be drawn to the groups by a desire for social status or a sense of belonging
and may not be ideologically motivated. Regardless, these networks exist on publicly
available online platforms, such as social media sites, gaming platforms, and mobile
applications commonly used by young people.

The Justice Department remains vigilant against the threat posed by these networks and is
investigating hundreds of subjects nationwide, including investigations involving
perpetrators and victims right here in the Central District of Illinois. Despite the determined
work of FBI agents along with their partners at U.S. Attorneys' Offices around the country,
more and more children are finding these groups online. The Federal Bureau of
Investigation currently has identified over 450 subjects tied to these networks nationwide.
The majority of victims are under the age of 18, with some as young as nine years old.

Understanding the Threat: What is NVE?

Nihilistic Violent Extremism is a form of violence motivated by a hatred of society and a
drive to cause its collapse through indiscriminate chaos. Unlike traditional extremist
groups with clear political or religious agendas, NVE members advocate for destruction
across the world by glorifying mass killers, promoting animal cruelty, and urging self-harm.

These predators methodically target vulnerable individuals, primarily children and teens,
on social media and gaming platforms. Once contact is established, they use "sextortion,"
manipulation, and blackmail to coerce victims into producing "gore" content or child
sexual abuse material or performing acts of violence and self-mutilation, often demanding
these acts be livestreamed. These actors have even manipulated children to take their own
lives.

"Nihilistic Violent Extremism is a direct assault on the safety of our youth," said FBI
Springfield Acting Special Agent in Charge, Karen Marinos. "These groups specifically seek
out vulnerable children to coerce them into horrific acts of self-harm and violence. The
FBI's priority is to disrupt these networks at their source, ensuring that the predators who
orchestrate this exploitation are held accountable for the lives they attempt to destroy."
"We are working tirelessly to protect our children and ensure that those who perpetrate
these evil acts face justice," said Acting U.S. Attorney Gregory M. Gilmore. "The dedicated
prosecutors and staff in my office, alongside our FBI partners, will use every available tool,
from sophisticated digital forensics to community outreach, to dismantle these nihilistic
networks and protect the Central District of Illinois."

Awareness and Prevention: Warning Signs for Parents

Awareness is the first line of defense: do not count on filters or parental controls to stop
these activities. NVE actors are highly skilled at bypassing restrictions or teaching victims
how to bypass them. Law enforcement urges parents to have open, ongoing conversations
with their children about their digital lives and to discourage the use of devices in nonshared
areas of the home.

These predators methodically target vulnerable individuals, primarily children and teens,
on social media and gaming platforms. Once contact is established, they use "sextortion,"
manipulation, and blackmail to coerce victims into producing "gore" content or child
sexual abuse material or performing acts of violence and self-mutilation, often demanding
these acts be livestreamed. These actors have even manipulated children to take their own
lives.

"Nihilistic Violent Extremism is a direct assault on the safety of our youth," said FBI
Springfield Acting Special Agent in Charge, Karen Marinos. "These groups specifically seek
out vulnerable children to coerce them into horrific acts of self-harm and violence. The
FBI's priority is to disrupt these networks at their source, ensuring that the predators who
orchestrate this exploitation are held accountable for the lives they attempt to destroy."

"We are working tirelessly to protect our children and ensure that those who perpetrate
these evil acts face justice," said Acting U.S. Attorney Gregory M. Gilmore. "The dedicated
prosecutors and staff in my office, alongside our FBI partners, will use every available tool,
from sophisticated digital forensics to community outreach, to dismantle these nihilistic
networks and protect the Central District of Illinois."

Awareness and Prevention: Warning Signs for Parents

Awareness is the first line of defense: do not count on filters or parental controls to stop
these activities. NVE actors are highly skilled at bypassing restrictions or teaching victims
how to bypass them. Law enforcement urges parents to have open, ongoing conversations
with their children about their digital lives and to discourage the use of devices in nonshared
areas of the home.

Potential signs of victimization include:

• Physical Markers: Fresh cuts, scratches, or scars, often in patterns (including
  "764"-related terms or platform names). These cuts will often be on hidden places
  of the body (thigh, chest, groin).
• Behavioral Changes: Becoming suddenly withdrawn, moody, or irritable. Changes
  in school performance, eating, or sleeping habits. These may be drastic and without
  warning.
• Animal Cruelty or Aggression: Sudden interest in harming animals or unexplained
  aggression toward younger siblings.
• Digital Red Flags: Reports of personally identifying information being posted online
  ("doxing") or unexplained gifts/packages arriving at the home.
• Dark Ideation: Openly talking about death, "not being wanted," or threatening
  suicide. Actively seeking tools for violence such as firearms, explosives, or
  chemicals.

Reporting and Resources

If you or someone you know is a victim of these tactics, retain all digital evidence
(usernames, emails, platform names) and report it immediately:

• 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or tips.fbi.gov
• FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center: ic3.govLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link.
• In case of imminent danger, call 911.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) provides a free service
known as Take It Down, which helps minor victims, or adults who were victimized as
minors, to remove or stop the online sharing of nude or sexually explicit content taken
while under 18 years old. For more information, visit https://takeitdown.ncmec.org.

These investigations are part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat
the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the
Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Department of Justice's Child
Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and
local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children
via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about
Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

For more information on how to protect children and others, read about the online risks
here: Parents, Caregivers, Teachers - FBI and the FBI's March 2025 public service
announcement.