The Com

The Com (short for "the Community," sometimes spelled "the Comm") is a transnational online criminal ecosystem rather than a single organization. The Canadian Anti-Hate Network's 2025 report defines it as "an interconnected series of chat servers, websites, and people that come together to boast and collaborate on their illegal actions." Membership and victimization both trend toward younger ages - participants and their victims can be children - and The Com explicitly recruits through gaming platforms, social media, and encrypted messaging applications. The FBI classified 764 as a "Tier One" terrorist threat with investigations in every U.S. field office and estimated more than 350 active investigations tied to 764 and related networks as of April 2026.¹

The Three Pillars

Researcher Marc-Andre Argentino of the Accelerationist Research Consortium provides the most analytically precise framework, describing The Com as three overlapping criminal spheres:

Cyber Com

Encompasses hacking, ransomware, SIM swapping, doxxing, swatting, and cryptocurrency theft. Scattered Spider is the best-known Cyber Com group, with documented connections to the broader ecosystem. Law enforcement intelligence documents obtained by CyberScoop confirm The Com uses SIM-swapping and IP-grabbing tools borrowed from the Cyber Com sphere to locate, identify, and harm victims across all platforms.

Sextortion Com

The sphere in which 764 and its splinter groups operate: sextortion, grooming, coercion of minors into producing CSAM (child sexual abuse material), and psychological manipulation designed to compel self-harm and real-world violence. 764 is the dominant network within this sphere but operates alongside dozens of variously named subgroups with overlapping membership.

Offline Com

Involves incitement to and glorification of real-world violence, ranging from vandalism and arson to livestreamed murder and mass casualty attacks. Maniac Murder Cult (MKY) is the most documented Offline Com organization. The boundary between Sextortion Com and Offline Com is porous: 764 cases frequently involve coercion to commit self-harm on camera, and an escalating share of documented cases involve operational planning for real-world attacks.²

Named Subgroups

The Com contains dozens of named subgroups, many of them short-lived rebrands or sub-servers operating under rotating aliases. The most documented include:

764 Network and its direct offshoots: 764 was founded approximately 2020 by Bradley Cadenhead in Stephenville, Texas (its numeric name derives from that city's ZIP codes 76401/76402). After Cadenhead's arrest and sentencing to 80 years in 2023, the network fragmented into overlapping successor groups. 764 Inferno, led by Leonidas Varagiannis and Prasan Nepal from Thessaloniki, Greece and North Carolina respectively, continued coercing minors until both were arrested and charged in April 2025.

Harm Nation was one of the primary 764 splinters emerging from the 2022 disruption of original 764 leadership. Kyle Spitze ("Criminal"), a Harm Nation member, pleaded guilty to production and possession of CSAM and distribution of animal crushing videos.

Kaskar was founded by a figure called "Courtbox" and has overlapping membership with 764 from inception. It is characterized by extreme psychological manipulation targeting victims aged 9 to 17.

Court, Leak Society, and H3ll emerged from the same 2022 fragmentation. Leak Society is documented by ISD as one of the largest subgroups within the network, primarily focused on distribution of leaked CSAM.

8884, whose numeric name references a member alias, was led by Alexis Aldair Chavez (19, San Antonio, Texas), who pleaded guilty in December 2025 to RICO charges and child exploitation counts. Chavez's specific crimes included coercing minors to self-harm live on video.

Additional numerically named subgroups documented by the ADL include 6996, 7997, 676, Slit Town, 545, 404, NMK, 303, SR1, XVN, 2992, 555, and CVLTIST - most operating as sub-servers or short-lived rebrands within the larger ecosystem.

CVLT was the most significant precursor group, founded approximately 2019 by Rohan Rane (later charged in the United States) and operating until approximately 2021. The even earlier Greggy's Cult (also called the "Cult of Greg") operated January 2020 through January 2021, used nearly identical CSAM coercion methods, and overlapped in membership with the individuals who built 764. NCITE tracked 31 individuals publicly charged with federal crimes across 764, CVLT, and Greggy's Cult by December 2025.

No Lives Matter (NLM) is a particularly violent splinter documented by Wired as operating within and adjacent to The Com. It was founded approximately 2023 by Justin B. (known by the handle "CXRPSE"), a Dutch national from Eindhoven, Netherlands. NLM has been linked to violent incidents in Europe and South America, including stabbing sprees in Sweden. Justin B. was arrested in the Netherlands in July 2025 on terrorism charges; his first Dutch court hearing was October 28, 2025.

Maniac Murder Cult (MKY) bridges The Com and the broader neo-Nazi accelerationist ecosystem. It was founded in Dnipro, Ukraine, approximately 2017-2018, and is ideologically rooted in neo-Nazi accelerationism and theistic Satanism rather than pure nihilism. It is treated in greater detail in its own entry.³

Platforms and Recruitment

Primary recruitment and operation platforms documented across law enforcement and research sources include Discord (primary recruitment, especially of younger targets via gaming servers), Telegram (propaganda distribution, recruitment, and operational communication for the broader Com), Roblox and Minecraft (reaching younger potential victims), Instagram and Facebook (initial contact with targets), Bluesky (emerging activity as of ADL's 2025 reporting), and Wire and Matrix (used specifically by MKY for private encrypted communications distinct from its recruitment channels).

The Com's Cyber Com sphere provides the broader network with cybercriminal tradecraft: SIM swapping to obtain phone access, IP grabbing to identify victim locations, and doxxing and swatting as harassment and intimidation tools. FBI and law enforcement intelligence documents confirm this crossover is being investigated as a unified threat rather than separate phenomena.⁴

Law Enforcement Response and Designations

The FBI classified 764 as a Tier One/Category 1 terrorist threat, its highest threat designation, with investigations in all field offices. Over 250 active investigations were reported in May 2025, over 300 in December 2025, and over 350 by April 2026.

The most significant U.S. prosecutions:

• Baron Martin (Tucson, Arizona): Indicted April 2026 on 29 counts including the first-ever federal terrorism charge under the material support statute against a 764 member. Trial scheduled June 2026.
• Alexis Aldair Chavez: RICO and child exploitation guilty plea, December 2025.
• Leonidas Varagiannis and Prasan Nepal: Charged April 2025 for leading 764 Inferno; both face life in prison.
• Michail Chkhikvishvili (MKY leader): Sentenced 15 years federal prison, May 2026.

Canada designated 764, MKY, and Terrorgram Collective as terrorist entities on December 10, 2025. The UK designated MKY as a proscribed terrorist organization on July 2, 2025. The RCMP arrested Jeffrey Roussel of Quebec City in April 2026 on terrorism charges for promoting 764 ideology and recruiting teenagers via Telegram - among the first prosecutions under Canada's designation.

The Netherlands arrested the No Lives Matter founder on terrorism charges in July 2025. Romania convicted the MKY-affiliated "Tobbz" to 14 years in August 2023. Sweden recorded at least six attacks recorded and promoted on Telegram by a 14-year-old known as "Slain764" before that individual's arrest in September 2024.⁵