FORT WAYNE, Ind. (ADAMS) – The Fort Wayne Police Department held a press conference about what the FBI calls a “dangerous group of online predators” known as 764. The FWPD is trying to raise awareness so the community, especially parents and caregivers, understands the threat this group poses.
The FWPD put out the following:
The Fort Wayne Police Department is alerting parents, guardians, educators, and young people about violent online networks that target and exploit children and other vulnerable individuals, including the network known as “764.”
These predators use Discord, Roblox, Telegram, and other social media, gaming, and messaging services to develop relationships with children.
What begins as a friend request, gaming conversation, private message, or request for a photograph can escalate into grooming, sextortion, threats, and psychological manipulation. Pictures and information children send become weapons. Once they’re close, 764 ultimately manipulates, threatens, blackmails, or extorts them.
Detectives from the department want the media to spread awareness about the horrifying trend that is claiming young lives across the country.
“This is a worldwide problem. Fort Wayne and our surrounding community are not immune; these online extremists are targeting our children. It is happening in Fort Wayne,” said Detective Brian Martin with the FWPD.
In place of the former “Stranger Danger” campaigns from the 1980s, the FWPD is issuing a new call to parents titled, “Who is Your Child Talking To?” The agency will share tactics 764 uses and ways parents can stay vigilant while protecting their children.
“We as Parents, teachers, counselors, and Law Enforcement, must keep up with the recent trends used to target our children. We must review our children’s social media, gaming, and online activity,” Det. Martin said. “We must ask questions about who our children are communicating with, whether they
When you can do so safely, preserve the evidence. Document usernames, account names, messages, threats, dates and times, telephone numbers, email addresses, and other identifying information. Do not immediately delete accounts or communications that may contain evidence, and do not confront or independently investigate the suspected offender.
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