Pittsburgh FBI warns of a rise in sextortion activities identified online involving children.
The network, known as 764, has been responsible for horrific abuse and blackmail across the globe.
During a press conference today at the FBI Headquarters, Assistant Special Agent in Charge Christopher Giordano says vulnerable children are blackmailed into degrading and violent acts by abusers who will then boast about it.
“The purpose of this sextortion is to get ‘Jane’ to the point where she’s going to shelf harm, all the way up to suicide,” said Giordano. “Whether it’s harming herself, harming animals, harming her family.”
The predatory groups use video games and chatrooms to get in contact with children.
“This group aims for nothing but to cause chaos and to cause harm to people,” said Giordano. “In these chat groups, you may have 10, 15, 20 of these ‘Johns’ all targeting one ‘Jane’ and the goal in this ‘game’ is to see which ‘John’ is going to be able to push ‘Jane’ over the limit to self-harm.”
Agent Giordano declined to release additional details, however there are a number of cases being investigated locally.
If a child exhibits any troubling behaviors report it to local police, and follow up with the FBI.