The 764 Cult has emerged as a disturbing example of how digital communities can evolve into dangerous, manipulative networks. While it operates largely in the shadows, survivor accounts and investigative reports have shed light on its methods of control, criminal activities, and the psychological toll on those who manage to escape.

This is not just a story about one group — it’s a warning about the growing threat of online cults.

Overview of the 764 Cult

Originating in 2021, 764 is a decentralized, transnational online network specializing in “sextortion,” sadistic abuse of minors, and the dissemination of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Although often describes as a “Satanic neo-Nazi cult” or terror group, experts note its primary motive is misanthropy and sadism, with ideological signifiers largely serving to foster a culture of abuse, violence, and group identity rather than sincere ideological commitment.

The group was founded by Bradley Chance Cadenhead, a 15-year-old from Stephenville, Texas, who created “764” on Discord after learning grooming tactics from a precursor group called CVLT, itself notorious for similar crimes. The name “764” derives from Stephensville’s ZIP code.

From its inception, 764 harnessed the connectivity of gaming platforms (notably Roblox and Minecraft), encrypted messaging apps (Discord, Telegram), and social media to systemically target children —particularly those aged 8 to 17 with mental health challenges or marginalized backgrounds.

“It’s something that internationally, both police and our intelligence security partners are still trying to wrap our heads around. It’s unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.”
— Insp. Matt Johnson, RCMP Counterterrorism

Key to the group’s operations is a loose but persistent “com network” of subgroups and offshoots, with “the com” referring to the broader community that persists even under law enforcement pressure and after headline arrests.

Founding and Evolution of 764

764’s trajectory is both a case study in the rapid evolution of digital cults and a window into the psychology of its founder. Cadenhead, described as disruptive and withdrawn, became obsessed with torture and murder imagery from age 10 onward. Isolated after bullying at school and psychological breakdowns, he dropped out and immersed himself in online spaces that normalized sadistic and violent behaviours.

Having learned from CVLT’s Discord server, which was founded by Rohan Sandeep Rane with open discussions of fascism, Nazism, and pedophilia, Cadenhead launched 764 as a separate brand that soon became more notorious than its forerunner. The group’s early days focused on hacking, swatting, and minor extortion, but it quickly escalated into systematic sexual exploitation, sadistic challenges, and criminal acts that would later earn 764 a “tier one” terrorist designation from the FBI and terror network classification by the Canadian RCMP and Europool.

Cadenhead’s leadership style was less about charismatic command than fostering an environment of cruelty and one-upmanship; as moderation efforts on platforms like Discord accelerated, leadership would pass to new figures (such as Prasan Nepal and international offshoots) with each major arrest. Offshoots, including 676, CVLTIST, Courtbox, Kaskar, Harm Nation, Leak Society, and H3ll, persisted by adopting many of the original’s tactics and targeting methods, ensuring continuity despite law enforcement disruption.

Ideological Influences and Affiliations

764 is best understood as the operational offshoot of a constellation of online extremist groups, most notably CVLT and the Order of Nine Angles (O9A). CVLT provided the initial forum for “edgy” discussions of fascism, Nazism, and child exploitation, rationalized through nihilism and pseudo-philosophical misanthropy — a combination designed to erode conventional morality and make space for radicalization and abuse.

The O9A, while older and rooted in occult “left-hand path” philosophy, has in recent years been adopted by online networks seeking to combine aesthetic rebellion with actual violence. Its “teachings” encourage the breaking of taboos via calculated cruelty, sexual violence, and murder, all recast as “transgressive” spiritual acts or accelerationist tactics to bring about societal collapse. The overlap is not just theoretical: O9A literature, rituals (like “blood covenants”), and aggressive hate speech have been found in 764 raids and arrests, providing both a symbolic and operational blueprint for 764’s leaders.

Additional links to groups like Maniac Murder Cult (MKY) and No Lives Matter (NLM) — which glorify violence and promote rel-world acts — are confirmed by law enforcement and extremist research institutes, highlighting the hybrid nature of 764’s ideology: opportunistic evil cloaked in a shifting blend of hate-driven doctrines.

Manipulative and Recruitment Tactics

764 uses Several Manipulative And Recruitment Tactics such as:

  • Grooming and “love bombing”: Predators first build trust and a sense of being “special” via excessive attention and flattery, masking their intent and priming the victim for later control. Once emotional dependency is established, the grooming intensifies to escalate compliance.
  • Isolation and blackmail: Victims are steered into secrecy, isolated from support systems (friends, families), and blackmailed with threatening exposure of sensitive material or “swatting.” The aim is to create learned helplessness and dependence on the abuser or the group.
  • Escalating “proof” of loyalty: Prospective members are made to perform ever more extreme, humiliating, or criminal acts — self-harm, animal abuse, or sexual exploitation — to gain entry or “rank” within the hierarchy.
  • Peer pressure and gamification: Rewards, status symbols, and inter-group rivalries push perpetrators (often minors themselves) to outdo each other, spiraling into more serious criminality and violence to attain infamy in the group.
  • Use of “guides” and “manuals”: 764 leaders produced step-by-step manuals on how to groom, manipulate, and extort child victims, which were distributed to new members as part of a “proving” process.

Documented Crimes and Modus Operandi

The catalogue of crimes attributed to 764 is both extensive and deeply disturbing, comprising some of the most severe forms of online harm ever documented. The group’s activities include:

  • Sextortion of minors and CSAM production: Members target children aged 8-17, often those with preexisting vulnerabilities, and use grooming, social engineering, and escalating threats to coerce them into producing sexual images, videos — sometimes involving siblings, animals, or forced acts of violence.
  • Escalation to sadism, self harm, and suicide: Victims are forced to perform ever more dangerous and humiliating acts on camera (carving abuser nicknames into skin, drinking urine, signing things with blood, harming pets), with the threat of “doxing” or the exposure of compromising material used as blackmail. High-profile cases have included the coercion of children into suicide attempts and, in several cases, completed suicides livestreamed for the group’s entertainment.
  • Offline violence, swatting, and terrorist plots: Members orchestrated swatting attacks (making false emergency reports to incite police raids on victims), bomb threats, attempted fire-bombings, and incitement to stabbings, shootings, and murders. Law enforcement has connected the group and its close allies to multiple real-world violent incidents, including attacks in Sweden, Romania, the U.S., and foiled plots elsewhere.
  • Creation and trade of “lorebooks”: Collections of “best” or most extreme victim content — especially CSAM and self-harm images — are compiled and traded within the network as a form of digital currency, social capital, and extortion tool.

Key Arrests and Legal Proceedings

Several arrests have been made including:

  • Bradley Cadenhead (“Felix”): Arrested in Texas in August 2021 and sentenced in May 2023 to 80 years for child pornography and orchestrating a sextortion network. Cadenhead had a long pattern of disruptive, violent behaviours and online sadism starting as a child.
  • Prasan Nepal (“Trippy”) and Leonidas Varagiannis (“War”): Arrested in April 2025, North Carolina and Greece, for leading a 764 subgroup (“764 Interno”) and producing CSAM. Both face potential life sentences in the U.S.
  • Additional convictions: Leaders and prominent members in various jurisdictions have been charged with CSAM, coercion, animal cruelty, and terror-related offenses in Romania, Spain, Sweden, the U.K. and the U.S., demonstrating the broad reach and adaptability of 764 and its offshoots. In May Of 2025, the FBI had over 250+ investigations into 764.

The pattern of these cases highlights not only the severity of the crimes, but the persistent challenge for law enforcement — a challenge exacerbated by the group’s decentralization and capacity to rebrand or respawn as new “cells” under different names.

Survivor Accounts and Testimonies

Survivor accounts provide the rawest evidence of both the tactics employed by 764 and the long-term psychological impact on victims.

  • Trinity’s Story (Canada): Groomed at age 13 while struggling with trauma and self-harm, Trinity was targeted on Discord, lavished with attention, then coerced into sending explicit images and self-harming. Her abuser demanded she carve his username into her body — a humiliation ritual reinforced by affection and manipulation. After a suicide attempt, police later confirmed her exploitation but failed to prosecute for years. Trinity’s case, now widely publicized, led to increased law enforcement awareness.

“They figured out how easy I am to manipulate. Call me sweet names like ‘little princess’ and make me feel like I was genuinely adored…He turned me into someone I could never think of being.”
— Trinity

  • Parental testimonials: Parents of victims describe the harrowing process of discovery, feelings of helplessness, and, in some cases, the aftermath of child suicide. Many reported missing “the signs” (secrecy, long sleeves to hide wounds, new online friends, animal injuries) and ongoing harassment from the network, even after going to the police.
  • Perpetrator-victim entanglement: Law enforcement and survivor support groups have noted that some survivors, upon manipulation and blackmail, have gone on to perpetrate similar acts under group direction — a cycle of abuse that 764 exploits to maintain and expand its footprint.

The impact is profound: survivors describe trauma, depression, loss of trust and community, spiraling shame and guilt — even as they come to accept they were manipulated. These are not isolated incidents but a pattern described by victim advocates, law enforcement, and mental health professionals worldwide.

The damage ravage all levels of a victim’s life:

  • Severe trauma and PTSD: Survivors face a legacy of dissociation, depression, suicidal thoughts, and in many cases, repeated attempts at self-harm or suicide.
  • Identity crises and moral injury: Victims lose a sense of self, struggle with guilt and shame, and often mistrust their own judgement — frequently intensified if they were coerced into recruiting or abusing others.
  • Social isolation and reintegration challenges: The loss of community and alienation from family/friends engenders deep loneliness, and reintegration into “normal” society requires ongoing counseling and support.

Fragmentation into Offshoot Groups

As a decentralized online organization, 764’s dissolution after Cadenhead’s arrest was more nominal than actual. On the surface, fragmentation into groups like 676, CVLTIST, Courtbox, Kaskar, Harm Nation, Leak Society, H3ll, and NLM (No Lives Matter) might appear as a victory for authorities. In reality, personnel and operational continuity has allowed “the com” to thrive, with hundreds still engaged in extortion and thousands in broader criminal activity.

Some offshoots intensified their focus on violent terrorism (Maniac Murder Cult, MKY), while others continued the cycle of sextortion, psychological manipulation, and blackmail. The frequent rebranding efforts and splintering complicate law enforcement efforts, obscure connections for parent groups/authorities, and attract new generations of abusers and victims.

Platform and Law Enforcement Responses

Platforms did their best to respond to these reports. Discord banned Cadenhead and later known abusers, but relied mainly on user reports. Discord has been criticized in the U.S. Senate and by security researchers for insufficient proactive moderation and failure to prevent rapid creation of new accounts. Roblox introduced chat restrictions, facial age verification, and content filters for users under the age of 17, after repeated warnings by law enforcement about the network’s use of the platform for recruitment. Telegram, Minecraft, and Instagram all host activity, with Telegram hosting encrypted 764 channels that are difficult to police. There are growing calls for cross-platform intelligence sharing and stricter identification for youth engagement.

Both the FBI and RCMP classify 764 as a top-tier terrorist threat, with ongoing investigations across all U.S. field offices and active cross-border operations in Canada and Europe. The RCMP has launched a public education campaign and maintains a tip-line for potential victims. Europol, DOJ, ICE, and national forces in the U.K., Romania, Sweden, Germany, Brazil, Spain, and Greece have all taken action against 764-linked groups. U.S. Senator Mark Warner has criticized technology companies and called for improved oversight. The Kids Online Safety Act (2024), though delayed, would mandate risk audits and independent monitoring for platforms popular with minors.

The Broader Danger of Online Cults

The 764 case crystallizes the key features, manipulative grip, and real-world danger of digital cults:

  • Decentralization: Modern online cults, including 764, are not easily stopped by “removing the leader.” Their cell-like structure, encrypted communications, and culture of rebranding enable rapid recovery from disruption.
  • Peer-driven radicalization: Recruitment and radicalization are peer-to-peer rather than top-down, encouraging minors to become both abusers and victims, with status and “clout” as lures for accelerationist violence and exploitation.
  • Vulnerability of youth: Children’s need for belonging, exploration, and validation is exploited in the absence of parental oversight, digital literacy, and trusted support systems. Mental health and situational vulnerabilities — such as loneliness or prior trauma — are directly targeted via gaming, support groups, YouTube communities, or “safe spaces.”
  • Technological arms race: As platforms introduce countermeasures (account bans, age verification, content moderation), networks adapt with new strategies, infiltrate emerging platforms, and exploit loopholes such as peer-to-peer chat, ephemeral content, and private servers.
  • Legal and policy gaps: Jurisdictional, technological, and evidential challenges impede investigation and prosecution. Legal frameworks often lag behind the complex, border-spanning, fast-evolving nature of these groups.

Lessons and Priorities

The case of the 764 cult demonstrates that the dangers of online cults now reach far beyond eccentric beliefs — they span coordinated, sadistic, and ideological twisted networks that systemically prey on children, spread extremist violence, and persist through fragmentation and adaptation.

Key lessons for communities, law enforcement, policymakers, and platforms include:

  • Vigilance and digital literacy are critical. Parents, guardians, educators, and clinicians need to recognize warning signs (isolation, sudden behavioral changes, scars, fear, secrecy, new online relationships, animal injuries, and extremist language) and foster supportive, nonjudgmental dialogue around online behavior.
  • Platform accountability and innovation are lagging behind threat evolution. There is a pressing need for automated detection of grooming, AI-generated content analysis, and faster, cross-platform intelligence sharing.
  • Survivor and family support must be empathetic and persistent. The psychological aftermath of victimhood and perpetration by coercion is profound and persistent — requiring trauma-informed care, supportive networks, and societal understanding.
  • Cross-border law enforcement must be both proactive and coordinated. Only with international cooperation, rapid response, and a willingness to treat online harm as a major public threat can these networks be meaningfully contained.

764 is not an isolated phenomenon; it is a blueprint for the next generation of cults. Awareness, education, and collective action remain society’s best hope for protecting the vulnerable against these evolving dangers.

Without continued societal, platform and governmental vigilance, the cycle of abuse, fragmentation, and resurrection demonstrated by 764 will remain a blueprint for future digital cults.

If you or someone you know is affected by abuses described in this article, reach out to national helplines or law enforcement immediately. Persistent awareness and support save lives.

By Beth Gibbons (Queen of Karma)

Beth Gibbons, known publicly as Queen of Karma, is a whistleblower and anti-MLM advocate who shares her personal experiences of being manipulated and financially harmed by multi-level marketing schemes. She writes and speaks candidly about the emotional and psychological toll these so-called “business opportunities” take on vulnerable individuals, especially women. Beth positions herself as a survivor-turned-activist, exposing MLMs as commercial cults and highlighting the cult-like tactics used to recruit, control, and silence members.

She has contributed blogs and participated in video interviews under the name Queen of Karma, often blending personal storytelling with direct confrontation of scammy business models. Her work aligns closely with scam awareness efforts, and she’s part of a growing community of voices pushing back against MLM exploitation, gaslighting, and financial abuse.