Former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, who re-launched his previously popular podcast this week after leaving the bureau in January, issued another warning about a sadistic group known as “764” that targets children in chat rooms.
“I want you to pay very close attention to these three numbers,” Bongino said in a video clip of his Wednesday show, as a graphic on the screen said, “A Deadly Serious Warning To All Parents” that was flanked by flashing emergency light emojis.
“764. There is a network of people out there…this is what they call the 764 group inside the FBI…and folks, if you haven’t heard about them, look them up,” he continued.
Bongino went on to note that while the information about the group is vital because members target kids, it’s equally important to understand that “it involves another critical issue, which is surveillance and civil liberties. They’re interconnected on this.”
“This group is disgusting. It is horrifying the stuff they do,” he warned before going on to describe a briefing he was given during his time with the bureau detailing many of the images and videos members of the group send to kids in chat rooms, including self-mutilation and sexual abuses.
“I promise I’m not gonna describe” what he saw “because you’ll throw up,” Bongino added. “What this network does is they hunt down and find your kids in these chat rooms for these online games and chat rooms and elsewhere. Folks, you have to monitor this stuff. It is not a small network.”
The FBI has been targeting the group for some time.
Fox News reported in November that federal authorities intensified a nationwide effort to disrupt and dismantle the violent online criminal network, which investigators say coerces children into harmful and exploitative acts, including self-harm and the production of sexual material.
The FBI has opened more than 300 investigations into individuals linked to the loosely organized network, Bongino told reporters at the time, describing 764 as a child-exploitation ring that targets minors through popular social media and gaming platforms.
“For those who may not know, the 764 Network is a heinous child-exploitation ring that often targets children online and coerces them into acts of violence, self-harm, animal abuse, suicide, and sexual abuse,” Bongino warned on the X platform then.
“At the beginning of the year, our teams redoubled efforts to go after these networks and eliminate them. We have more than 300 investigations connected to this network nationwide, and that number is growing. It is a top priority for us,” he added.
Bongino said agents recently arrested an individual in the Baltimore area on federal charges for allegedly targeting multiple minors, including a 13-year-old. In a separate case in Arizona, an indictment alleged another affiliate of the network preyed on children between 11 and 15 years old.
According to the FBI, members and affiliates of the 764 network befriend minors online and use coercion, blackmail and threats to pressure them into participating in violent, degrading or sexually explicit acts. Some victims reportedly are forced to record themselves engaging in self-harm or other dangerous conduct, and the material is then used to extort further compliance.
The network, which federal authorities describe as transnational and active on platforms including Discord and other messaging services, has been linked to child exploitation, cyberstalking and related crimes. Earlier federal actions have included indictments and arrests of suspects accused of running elements of the enterprise and of distributing child pornography.
FBI officials say they are working with domestic and international law enforcement partners to identify, arrest and prosecute individuals involved with the 764 network and to warn the public, particularly parents, about the risks posed by such online predators.