Part 3: Who's Talking to Your Kids?
The Dark Web, Violent Online Networks, Doxxing, and Swatting
In Part 1 and Part 2, we covered how online grooming works and how sextortion and AI-generated images are being used against kids. In this part, we'll look at the threats that get the scariest headlines, and separate what parents actually need to know from what just makes us anxious.
The Dark Web: What Parents Actually Need to Understand
You'll hear three terms thrown around. Here's what they mean:
The surface web is everything a search engine like Google can find: ordinary websites.
The deep web is content that isn't publicly searchable: your email, bank account, medical portal, school systems, and subscriptions. Almost all of it is completely legitimate.
The dark web is a much smaller, deliberately hidden part of the internet. It usually takes special software, like the Tor browser, to reach.
Tor and other privacy tools have lawful uses. Journalists, researchers, whistleblowers, and people living under oppressive governments rely on them. The technology itself isn't automatically criminal.
But hidden networks are also used to share child sexual abuse material, run criminal marketplaces, trade stolen information, swap exploitation tactics, and hide identities.
The Important Correction
The dark web is usually not where a child's risk begins.
Offenders find kids on ordinary apps and games. Private servers, encrypted groups, and hidden sites come later, for coordinating and sharing what they've taken.
So instead of worrying about the dark web, focus on what you can actually see and influence:
Who can contact your child.
What information your child shares.
Whether conversations are becoming secret.
Whether someone is applying emotional, sexual, or financial pressure.
Whether your child knows how to walk away and ask for help.
Violent Online Networks
Federal authorities are investigating online networks whose members target vulnerable kids, demand sexual content, push them to hurt themselves, glorify violence, and use threats to keep control.
The best-known is a network called 764. In April 2025, the Justice Department charged two alleged leaders of a core 764 group with running a global child exploitation enterprise. Prosecutors say they groomed and extorted at least eight minors, some as young as 13, and coerced them into sexual acts, self-harm, and harming animals. The Justice Department describes 764 as a violent extremist network that targets minors in particular.
These groups don't live only on hidden websites. They operate on mainstream social media, gaming communities, messaging apps, private servers, and encrypted chats, the same places our kids spend time.
Warning Signs
Be alert to any online contact or group that:
Glorifies mass violence or cruelty.
Encourages self-harm or asks for photos of injuries.
Uses threats to force degrading acts.
Demands "proof" of loyalty.
Encourages hatred, isolation, or destruction.
Pressures your child to hurt another person or an animal.
Threatens to expose your child's identity or location.
Treats pain and humiliation as entertainment.
If you see any of these, don't wait and don't investigate on your own. Save what you can, and contact the FBI at tips.fbi.gov or 1-800-CALL-FBI and your local police right away.
Doxxing and Swatting
What Is Doxxing?
Doxxing is collecting and publishing someone's private information without permission: a home address, phone number, school, workplace, family names, schedules, vehicle, photos of the house, or location data.
What Is Swatting?
Swatting is making a fake emergency call to send a large police response to someone's home, school, business, or event. It is not a prank. It puts residents, officers, neighbors, and bystanders in real danger.
Doxxing often comes first. A swatter can't send police to your door without your address.
Reduce What's Out There
Remove addresses and phone numbers from public profiles.
Turn off location sharing you don't need.
Don't post travel plans or "we're away" photos in real time.
Check photos for house numbers, street signs, school names, uniforms, and license plates.
Use separate public and private accounts when it makes sense.
Use strong passwords and multifactor authentication.
Keep account-recovery info up to date.
Search your family's names every so often to see what's public.
Teach your kids not to share schedules, addresses, or family details online.
If Someone Threatens to Swat Your Family
Save the threat and the account information.
Call your local police department's non-emergency number.
Tell them your family received a credible swatting threat.
Ask whether they can document or flag your address. Not every department can.
Get an incident or report number if one is available.
Make sure everyone in your home knows what to do if police show up unexpectedly.
Don't confront or retaliate against the person who made the threat.
If Police Arrive
This is where staying calm keeps everyone safe:
Keep your hands empty and visible.
Avoid sudden movements.
Follow every command.
Don't run toward officers to explain.
Explain the suspected swatting threat once it's safe to talk.
Remember that officers may be acting on false or incomplete information.
Keep your records and follow up once the scene is safe.
Practice this with your family the same way you'd practice a fire drill. In a high-stress moment, people do what they've rehearsed.
Trust Your Gut
If an online group or contact makes your child more secretive, more isolated, or more fascinated with violence or self-harm, that's not a phase to wait out. Never doubt your gut feelings. Step in.
Coming Up in Part 4
In Part 4, we'll put it all together with practical Family Tech Rules: how to protect your kids online without turning your home into a surveillance state, and how to keep the conversation open as they grow up.
Go Deeper: Protect Your Family's Digital Life
This series is a strong start. If you want the complete playbook, there are two premium guides from Prepared Not Paranoid that take it further:
Hooked: The Dangers of Social Media How social media is built to keep kids (and adults) hooked, and how that same design opens the door to manipulation, cyberbullying, scams, sextortion, and exploitation. You'll learn to recognize manipulation earlier and build healthier digital habits as a family. Get Hooked
Cyber Safety: A Beginner's Guide to Protecting Your Digital Footprint A practical, step-by-step guide to securing your family's digital footprint: accounts, passwords, privacy settings, devices, and the personal information that's already out there about you. Get Cyber Safety
Sources
Disclaimer
This article is for general informational and educational purposes only. It is designed to help families recognize warning signs and start important conversations. It is not a substitute for professional advice, training, or services, including legal, medical, mental health, or law enforcement guidance. Laws and reporting requirements vary by state and change over time. Prepared Not Paranoid and Larry Betz are not responsible for the content of third-party websites or resources linked here and make no guarantee of their accuracy or completeness.
If you suspect a child is being exploited online, report it to NCMEC's CyberTipline at report.cybertip.org or 1-800-843-5678, and contact local law enforcement. If a child is in immediate danger, call 911.
Prepared Not Paranoid. Protecting the Most Vulnerable Among Us.
