The FBI is growing more and more concerned about a loose group of online, violent predators known as “764,” who coerce young girls into harming themselves and producing explicit content.
Late last month, authorities arrested two men believed to prominent members of the extremist group: 21-year-old Leonidas Varagiannis and 20-year-old Prasan Nepal. They’re accused of “orchestrating one of the most heinous online child exploitation enterprises we have ever encountered,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.
Varagiannis, Nepal and other members have coerced young girls into creating sexual abuse material and even ordered their victims to commit acts of self-harm while engaging in “psychological torment and extreme violence” against them, the Department of Justice alleges.
The group is widespread, police warn. The FBI has more than 250 open investigations into the group, and every single one of its 55 field offices is handling a 764-related case, FBI Assistant Director David Scott, the head of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division, told ABC News.
The group has targeted victims as young as nine, and there could be thousands of victims around the world, Scott said.
Here’s what you need to know about the online extremist group:
What is the group 764?
The group 764 is a “violent online network that seeks to destroy civilized society through the corruption and exploitation of vulnerable populations, which often include minors,” according to the Department of Justice. The network’s goals include “social unrest” and the “downfall of the current world order, including the U.S. Government.”
Members of the group target vulnerable children online and coerce them into producing explicit content, according to investigators. This content includes “cut signs” and “blood signs” that victims would cut into their bodies.
Members force children to “engage in self-mutilation, online and in-person sexual acts, harm to animals, sexual exploitation of siblings and others, acts of violence, threats of violence, suicide, and murder,” the Department of Justice said.
The network also shares violent content with its victims in hopes of desensitizing them, investigators say. Some members even glorify mass casualty events like the 1999 Columbine High School shooting and introduce their victims to neo-Nazism or Satanism, ABC News reports.
Who is the group targeting?
The group targets young girls they view as vulnerable, investigators say.
A recent criminal complaint filed against the group’s alleged leaders includes materials used by the group instructing members how to manipulate and abuse girls.
“In order to manipulate into one producing content in your name, you must make her feel loved to the point she does not want to let go or lose you, and that’s when you start requesting work like blood signs,” the alleged instructions read.
“The best woman to target are ones that have depression or mentally ill ones,” the instructions continue.
One victim, a 17-year-old Connecticut girl, was first targeted on Roblox and Discord, ABC News reports. The alleged 764 member who targeted her then convinced her they were a couple, and she sent him sexual photos.
She went on to produce several pieces of content for the group, including a nude Barbie doll with “764” written on its forehead and a note written in her blood calling the man who targeted her a “god.”
The girl even allegedly helped direct a series of threats to local schools in 2023 and 2024, ABC News reports.
Scott said it’s common 764 victims like her to “then become subjects” by perpetrating acts “on behalf of the individual who victimized them.”
The girl was eventually arrested on conspiracy-related charges and referred to juvenile court. Even before her arrest, however, she had started to resist some of the demands directed at her. This led to her family home being “swatted,” which is when someone falsely reports a crime or violence to try and induce SWAT teams to a location.
The man at the center of the Connecticut girl’s case is still under investigation by authorities, according to ABC News.
Spokespeople for both Roblox and Discord told ABC News said their companies are “committed” to creating safe spaces online and have policies in place to prohibit the abuse of children.
What warning signs should parents look out for?
Parents should look for changes in their children’s activities, behavior and personality, Scott told ABC News. They should also keep an eye out for questionable injuries to family pets and evidence of self-harm. Signs of self-harm could include a child wearing long-sleeved clothes or trying to cover their body on hot days, Scott told the outlet.
“Just be on the lookout for any of those things that are alarming, and just have in the back of your mind that this may all be a result of what is happening online,” Vernon Police Detective Tommy Van Tasel, who worked on the Connecticut girl’s 764 case, told ABC News.
If you are based in the U.S. and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call the National Suicide Prevention Helpline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). This is a free, confidential crisis hotline available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.
If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can also speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email [email protected], or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.
