In recent weeks, VICE has reported on the recruitment and radicalization of children as young as 12 by Satanic neo-Nazi accelerationist groups like 764, No Lives Matter, and Milikolosskrieg, which operate within a wider criminal network primarily through encrypted messaging platforms like Signal, Telegram, and Discord. While it might be tempting to dismiss this as little more than disaffected kids venting online, the influence of this network has been directly tied to numerous incidents of real-world violence—leading it to be identified as a threat in a series of public service announcements by the FBI, which refers to it as ‘The Com.’
At the end of last month, Minnesotan 20-year-old Logan Anthony Seitz was arrested for stabbing a woman “around 20 times” in a park. In a criminal complaint obtained by CBS, he told investigators he’d had the urge to randomly kill a person since he was ten years old and went out that day intending to find his victim. But coverage of the case missed a crucial detail: Seitz is a longtime member of SR1, a subgroup of a notorious The Com-adjacent sextortion network known as 764. His attack was not only acknowledged but celebrated on Telegram channels associated with these groups, where he is known by the alias ‘Corrupt.’
It’s not the first time a case like this has been traced back to The Com. Between July and October 2024, at least six unprovoked assaults in Hässelby, Stockholm were filmed and posted on Telegram channels linked to 764. A 14-year-old boy was detained on suspicion of two assaults, and confessed to one—the attempted murder of an 80-year-old man. In April 2025, two individuals linked to 764 were arrested in connection with a bomb plot targeting a Lady Gaga concert in Brazil attended by over 2 million fans.
The threat posed by these groups, which are often influenced or inspired by the Order of Nine Angles (O9A), has now drawn the attention of the United States’ federal government.
On July 23, the FBI issued three PSAs about The Com, highlighting the growing dangers it poses to young people online. According to the briefings, The Com has thousands of members, primarily between 11 and 25 years of age. Most recruits are drawn in through gaming platforms and social media. The Com groups featured in the FBI reports engage in a range of criminal activities, including ransomware attacks, stabbings, sabotage, swatting, extortion, the distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), DDoS attacks, SIM swapping, and cryptocurrency theft, among other things.
The FBI states that the movement has been “employing increasingly complex methods to mask their identities, hide financial transactions, and launder money.” It urges parents to closely monitor their children’s online activity and to be cautious when sharing personal information.
The PSA divides The Com into three main factions: Hacker Com, IRL (In Real Life) Com, and Extortion Com.
Hacker Com
The cybercriminals in this community are mostly responsible for ransomware operations and swatting-for-hire services, the latter often advertised with bespoke price lists on apps like Telegram. According to the FBI, swatting is the most frequent offense linked to The Com and often functions as an obligatory initiation ritual for new recruits seeking status and entry into its wider network. Alongside these pursuits lives a taste for cryptocurrency theft, the profits from which have sometimes run into the millions of dollars.
IRL Com
This faction includes groups that engage with physical violence. Their crimes have run the gamut from acts of vandalism, physical assault, and armed robbery to stabbings, kidnappings, and shootings.
One group associated with IRL Com is SuicideHill. Recently, Vice detailed the case of a 12-year-old Wisconsin boy who was charged with three felony counts of arson and five counts of criminal damage to property after being accused of setting several cars on fire. His alleged rampage took place after he’d been recruited into SuicideHill.
Extortion Com
The FBI has identified this sector of The Com as the one that deals in blackmail and coercion, with members targeting vulnerable populations—including children and people with mental health issues—and frequently threatening to swat or dox victims if they don’t comply with their demands. Extorters are known to manipulate victims into producing CSAM, as well as videos depicting animal cruelty and acts of self-harm such as cutting, stabbing, and fan-signing (writing the names of extorters or Com-affiliated groups in blood).
Alarmingly, the end goal can be to force victims to live-stream their own suicide. One of the most prominent groups associated with this faction is 764, which has been categorized by the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice as a “tier one/category 1” terrorism threat that directly threatens the “national or economic security of the United States.”
The FBI currently has 250 open investigations into members of 764. In May, two men were arrested and charged with leading a subgroup called 764 Inferno. Twenty-year-old Prasan Nepal and 21-year-old Leonidas Varagiannis—who police say operated under the aliases “Trippy” and “War” respectively—were accused of exploiting at least eight minors as young as 13 years old.
The FBI’s PSA highlights the escalating urgency of the situation. Over the last four years, The Com has evolved from an obscure fringe community into a serious public safety threat. The authorities no longer regard it as just an edgy online subculture, but a decentralized machine sharing knowledge of how to commit serious criminal activity and life-changing violence.
Previously: A New Satanic Neo-Nazi Group Is Recruiting Children as Young as 12
The post Swatting, Shootings, and Sextortion: The FBI Is Warning Parents About ‘The Com’ appeared first on VICE.
