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class=\"stickybar stickybar--event js-stickybar\">\n<div class=\"stickybar__details\" readability=\"4.9180327868852\">\n<div class=\"stickybar__info js-sticky-bar-content\" readability=\"32\">\n<p>Voting is open for the 2025 CyberScoop 50 awards!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <a class=\"stickybar__link button button-tertiary\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/cyberscoop50\/\">Click here!<\/a> <\/div>\n<p> <button class=\"stickybar__close js-stickybar-close\" aria-controls=\"stickybar\"> <svg class=\"icon icon--close\" width=\"21\" height=\"22\" viewBox=\"0 0 21 22\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"m.822.518-.805.805L9.695 11 .017 20.678l.805.805 9.678-9.678 9.677 9.678.806-.805L11.305 11l9.678-9.677-.806-.805-9.677 9.677L.822.518Z\" fill=\"currentColor\" \/><\/svg> <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Close<\/span> <\/button> <\/section>\n<article class=\"single-article content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__container js-single-article-content\">\n<header class=\"single-article__header \" readability=\"24.756578947368\">\n<div class=\"single-article__header-content\" readability=\"29.796116504854\">\n<ul class=\"single-article__eyebrow\">\n<li class=\"single-article__category\"> <a class=\"single-article__category-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/the-com-subculture-infamy-crimes\/\"> <span>Cybercrime<\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> Unit 221B\u2019s Allison Nixon said crackdowns have effectively shown the group that their actions carry real consequences. <\/p>\n<p>   <\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__cover-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"single-article__cover\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/internet-infamy-drives-the-coms-crime-sprees.jpg?resize=640%2C426&ssl=1\" class=\"single-article__cover-image wp-post-image\" alt decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/internet-infamy-drives-the-coms-crime-sprees-2.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/internet-infamy-drives-the-coms-crime-sprees-2.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/internet-infamy-drives-the-coms-crime-sprees-2.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/internet-infamy-drives-the-coms-crime-sprees-2.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/internet-infamy-drives-the-coms-crime-sprees-2.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/internet-infamy-drives-the-coms-crime-sprees-2.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/internet-infamy-drives-the-coms-crime-sprees-2.jpg?resize=252,168 252w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/internet-infamy-drives-the-coms-crime-sprees-2.jpg?resize=506,337 506w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/internet-infamy-drives-the-coms-crime-sprees-2.jpg?resize=1013,675 1013w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/internet-infamy-drives-the-coms-crime-sprees-2.jpg?resize=1265,843 1265w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1013px) 100vw, 1013px\"><figcaption> Hacker using laptop. Lots of digits on the computer screen. (seksan Mongkhonkhamsao\/Getty Images) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"single-article__content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__content-inner has-drop-cap\"> <html readability=\"70.49387755102\"><body readability=\"141.44175824176\"><\/p>\n<p>The Com doesn\u2019t fit into a traditional definition of cybercrime. While the majority of groups tend either be financially-motivated or working at the behest of a government, The Com\u2019s chaotic, sprawling network, composed of mostly teenagers and young adults, are committing their crimes primarily for notoriety amongst their peers on the internet, Allison Nixon, chief research officer at Unit 221B, said Friday during a presentation at a cybersecurity conference.<\/p>\n<p>The borderless, grassroots movement is now a \u201cbottom-up social phenomenon,\u201d Nixon said. At a presentation Friday at Sleuthcon, she compared the path group members to a sales funnel as recruits move from harassment to full-blown physical violence. <\/p>\n<p>The catalog of crimes attributed to <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/tag\/the-com\/\">The Com<\/a> are vast, including social engineering, crypto theft, phishing, SIM swapping, extortion, sextortion, swatting, kidnapping and murder. The Justice Department last month arrested and charged <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/764-leaders-arrested-charged-child-sextortion\/\">two alleged leaders of the child sextortion group 764<\/a>, of which members are affiliated with The Com, for directing and distributing child sexual abuse material.<\/p>\n<p>In the last month, Unit 221B researchers tracked a series of swatting incidents, including multiple instances in Henrico County, Virginia, to what they believe is a 14-year-old boy living in Manchester, England. <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Most of the kids initially attracted to The Com quit and the majority of active participants remain low risk, but the potential for criminal activity increases for those who spend more time communicating and interacting with the subculture. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of the reason why people get involved in The Com, young kids, they\u2019re making a rational financial decision,\u201d Nixon said. \u201cThey realize that, given the current economic state of things, as an 18-year-old trying to get an entry-level job you\u2019re going to make garbage money, you\u2019re going to have 10 roommates. Or you can get into fraud, make way more money, and they think that it\u2019s cooler, too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The demographics of The Com also skew young because gangs explicitly recruit children and are incentivized to do so since minors typically face less severe legal consequences, according to Nixon. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe people in The Com, they are not the stereotypical old-school hacker. They do not embody the hacker spirit as it is understood from the \u201880s, \u201890s, early 2000s,\u201d Nixon said. \u201cA lot of us in the industry make assumptions along those lines, but it\u2019s just not true. The culture has changed so much that the current state of things is not recognizable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The most consequential pivot point for the criminal hacking underground culture occurred in 2018, as the number of people affiliated with The Com exploded in size after the value of Bitcoin surged twelve-fold the year prior, she said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cIt transformed the criminal underground from a scene of petty thieves,\u201d Nixon said. \u201cAll these esoteric hacking techniques that they had suddenly became a vector for making a ton of money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Com\u2019s criminal activity was largely financially motivated until an era of violence and sextortion began in 2021, overtimes overlapping between sextortion and high-dollar fraud since then, according to Nixon.<\/p>\n<p>More recently, the idolization associates or members bestow on people affiliated with The Com is \u201cdirectly correlated with how much harm they can cause and how depraved their behavior can be,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n<p>Unit 221B research indicates the individuals engaging in the most violent crimes number in the hundreds, or maybe a few thousand people among a much larger population of individuals associated with The Com. <\/p>\n<p>During a violence prevention conference in October, an FBI agent stressed that <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/the-com-764-cybercrime-violent-crime-fbi-intellignce-report\/\">The Com\u2019s activities are widespread<\/a> across the United States with incidents occurring in every state and agents investigating crimes linked to The Com in every field office, CyberScoop reported in December.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cA lot of the more recent activity involves a lot of this very chaotic, self-described vigilante stuff,\u201d which law enforcement appears to be treating as terrorism, prompting crackdowns and much faster turnaround times for arrests, Nixon said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s really not a lot of them. You can throw them in jail. I\u2019m seeing the crackdowns. I think they\u2019re very effective,\u201d she added. \u201cI look at the reactions from the groups, and they calm down after they understand that there\u2019s consequences to behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Understanding the structure and motivations of The Com can facilitate a more effective response. \u201cThese are young people looking for a place to belong, looking for a place in the world,\u201d Nixon said. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to think about \u2014 given these motivations \u2014 what is the career path for the average 18-year-old? Why does it suck so much to apply for a job?\u201d she said. \u201cAll these difficulties that we all have in applying for jobs, kids experience that tenfold. So we need to think about the career path. We can cut down on the sheer numbers a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Most of The Com\u2019s activity is hosted on websites that are independently owned and operated by criminals, but a lot of the content associates and their victims produce eventually pops up on commercial social media platforms.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s actually happening here is a social phenomenon where children are willfully joining violent street gangs on the internet,\u201d Nixon said. \u201cThat\u2019s what we need to address.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><\/body> <\/p>\n<footer class=\"single-article__footer\" readability=\"4.2207637231504\">\n<div class=\"author-card\" readability=\"14\">\n<div class=\"author-card__avatar\">\n<figure class=\"author-card__image-wrap\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-card__image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/internet-infamy-drives-the-coms-crime-sprees-1.jpg?w=640&ssl=1\" alt=\"Matt Kapko\"> <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><h4 class=\"author-card__name\">Written by Matt Kapko<\/h4>\n<p> Matt Kapko is a reporter at CyberScoop. His beat includes cybercrime, ransomware, software defects and vulnerability (mis)management. The lifelong Californian started his journalism career in 2001 with previous stops at Cybersecurity Dive, CIO, SDxCentral and RCR Wireless News. 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{"id":7720,"date":"2025-06-09T09:57:21","date_gmt":"2025-06-09T14:57:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/?p=84814"},"modified":"2025-06-09T09:57:21","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T14:57:21","slug":"internet-infamy-drives-the-coms-crime-sprees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2025\/06\/09\/internet-infamy-drives-the-coms-crime-sprees\/","title":{"rendered":"Internet infamy drives The Com\u2019s crime sprees"},"content":{"rendered":"