Online gangs of teenage boys sharing extreme material are ‘emerging threat’ in UK

National Crime Agency says such groups are fuelling crimes including fraud, violence and child sexual abuse

• Blackmailing girls and encouraging suicide: the young British men in online gangs

Teenage boys are joining online gangs where they share sadistic and misogynistic material that fuels crimes including fraud, violence and child sexual abuse, the director general of the National Crime Agency has warned.

Offenders in online communities collaborate and compete to cause harm online and offline through cyber-attacks such as launching malware, ransomware or executing data breaches; fraud; extremism; grooming and blackmailing; serious violence; and child sexual abuse, according to the NCA, which leads the UK's fight to cut serious and organised crime.