Inside 764: Online terror group targets children through gaming apps and social media

WPBF 25 News uncovers how an extremist online network known as 764 is manipulating kids on platforms like Roblox — leading them down paths of abuse, self-harm, and even terror threats in Palm Beach County

Imagine your 10-year-old is in their room, playing an online game like Roblox. Now imagine the "child" they think they’re chatting with is actually an adult with deviant, disturbing, and dangerous intentions — ranging from abuse to encouraging suicide.

Your child could be just weeks away from becoming a victim of a global online terror network called 764.

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw tells WPBF 25 News Investigative Reporter Terri Parker this threat is real — and happening here.

“I think what you're going to find out is there's a lot of people never heard of this, never heard of the other thing — that they kind of know about child pornography and things like that, but they don't know the danger that's here with this particular operation," said Bradshaw.

The FBI says members of 764 operate nationwide — including in South Florida. One of the most chilling incidents came last August, when a bomb threat was phoned in to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office:

“I’m going to blow you up.”
“What are you going to blow up?”
“You – the police. I got bomb – boom.”
“Where are you, sir?”
“I’m at Palm Beach County Sheriff’s.”
“What is the address where you are?”
“I’m going to blow you – one – you got 13 minutes.”

Investigators traced that call to a 17-year-old in Kentucky named Curtis Hodge. According to the arrest report, Hodge was a suspected member of 764 — a group that aims to overthrow governments and create global chaos, all while grooming and extorting children online.

764 members targets kids through gaming platforms and social media apps, manipulating them into producing explicit content. Then they use that content to blackmail victims into even more disturbing acts, often involving self-harm or livestreamed abuse.

“And that's what makes it even more disturbing. So they will do compilations of different videos and pictures and things that they have done and convince their victims to do,” said David Scott, the FBI's Assistant Director of the Counter Terrorism Division.

Members gain status in the group based on the severity of abuse they coerce from victims — some even forcing children to carve names into their bodies.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier says the platforms where kids spend time — like Snapchat — are where these predators strike.

“They are preferred avenues for these child predators to get online. They often deceive young people. They pretend to be other individuals. They use different pictures and a different dialect, and they develop relationships with kids. And then they start to solicit pictures, sexually abusive material. And in the scariest of cases, they try to schedule meetings. This is dangerous.”

Uthmeier says Florida is doing more than most states to push back.

“Florida is as prepared as any state, perhaps the most prepared right now. We passed legislation just last year that creates further restrictions where younger kids, younger teenagers, they're not permitted to access these social media platforms. 12 and 13 year olds, they just don't have the maturity. They don't understand the risks that are out there.”

All of these law enforcement officials are sounding the alarm — because the danger to children and teens is both real and far-reaching.

They urge parents: Monitor all online activity, gaming, and social media use. Make sure extremist predators don’t find a way into your child’s life.

https://www.wpbf.com/article/florida-764-online-terror-group-targets-kids-roblox-florida/64718573

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Kash Patel: FBI uncovered ‘764’ TERROR group that convinces children to take their own lives.
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