<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Australian girls are being targeted online by sadistic young men, who treat their victims as if they were characters in a video game, the new head of the Australian Federal Police has revealed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Commissioner Krissy Barrett said online criminal networks are intimidating, exploiting and controlling girls with low self-esteem or mental health disorders to perform serious acts of violence on themselves, siblings, others and pets.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They have identified 59 people as being part of the network in Australia and arrested three people aged between 17 and 20.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/inflation-australia-september-quarter-cpi/7e486a55-1073-4e32-877b-bce90690255f" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Rate cut hopes dealt massive blow as inflation surges again</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"They are crimefluencers, and are motivated by anarchy and hurting others, with most of their victims pre-teen or teenage girls," Barrett told the National Press Club in her first major speech. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Barrett said young men from Western, English-speaking backgrounds are engaged in the "twisted type of gamification" where they treat and trade their victims as they would if they were characters in a video game.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"These groups have a similar culture to multiplayer online gaming culture, and they hunt, stalk, and draw in victims from a range of online platforms," she said.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/australia-federal-police-young-girls-targeted-by-young-men-online-like-video-game/da51b4f1-a53e-4069-9d6a-7298b700a144" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"To be accepted into these networks, the perpetrators often must have to pass a test or undertake a task such as providing videos of the self-harm of others or other gory content. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This is where mainly vulnerable girls are being victimised.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"In this new, twisted type of gamification, perpetrators reach a status or new level in their group when they provide more content, showing more extreme acts of depravity and sadism.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"And in some cases, perpetrators trade their victims with each other, just like an online game. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Once traded, a new perpetrator can control their new victim."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>These offenders are believed to be motivated by their own amusement or to be popular online.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The criminal networks they are part of have no centralised hierarchy or single ideology and are attracted to violent extremism, nihilism, sadism, Nazism, and Satanism.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/missing-schoolgirl-lisa-mott-cold-case-investigators-release-description-of-man-who-may-be-able-to-assist-with-enquiries/61120b31-6c9b-4c8a-8726-8cdcbe50c499" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>New information about one of WA's oldest cold cases revealed</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The AFP has set up Taskforce Pompilid to investigate and arrest these crimefluencers.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Federal police and Microsoft are developing a prototype AI tool that will interpret emojis and Gen Z and Alpha slang in encrypted messages and chat groups to identify sadistic online exploitation.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The AFP has also provided information to departments and state and territory police to help them navigate the new trend and is working with partners overseas, who have arrested another nine people.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Internationally, information provided by the AFP has contributed to arrests for murder, inciting suicide, inciting harm online, violent sexual offences, possession of child abuse and child sexual abuse material, as well as cybercrime offences such as unauthorised access of data and attempted extortion of organisations," Barrett said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"A sub-group within the Five Eyes Law Enforcement Group has also been established to target these groups."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Barrett encouraged parents and guardians to be aware of the rising trend and speak with their children, letting them know that they can talk about uncomfortable online experiences with a safe adult.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"You can encourage safe conversations by talking regularly about online activities and apps, encouraging critical thinking, and reassuring kids that they won't be punished for coming forward if they think they have done something wrong," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"You can look out for warning signs that include self-harm, changes in eating or sleeping habits, sudden withdrawal from friends, families or activities, use of extreme behaviour, extreme language or symbols, and rejection of previously held morals."</span></div></div><div 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