Tyler Buchanan: Scottish man faces 22 years in US prison for $8m virtual currency scam
A Scottish man has admitted planning to steal more than US$8 million (£5.9 million) in virtual currency by hacking into the computer systems of at least a dozen companies.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) charged Tyler Buchanan of Dundee with participating in a ring that used text message phishing attacks to trick employees into providing login information and access to computer systems.
Buchanan pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.
US officials said that the 24-year-old and his collaborators sent hundreds of messages to company employees, pretending to be companies or their contracted suppliers.
In the plea agreement, Buchanan admitted that the group planned to defraud telecommunications companies, IT vendors, cloud communications providers, virtual currency firms and individuals between September 2021 and April 2023.
A device seized from Buchanan’s home in Scotland showed he had a text file containing the names and addresses of multiple victims, as well as cryptocurrency seed phrases and login information for one victim’s account.
“The conspirators created a phishing kit that captured login information entered into fake phishing websites by employees of a victim company,” the Justice Department said in a statement.
“The stolen credentials were then transferred to an online Telegram channel run by Buchanan and another co-conspirator.”
Buchanan has been in federal custody in the United States for a year.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 21 and faces a maximum sentence of 22 years in prison.
Three other defendants, all from the United States, still face criminal charges, according to the Justice Department.
Another co-conspirator, Noah Michael Urban, pleaded guilty to three fraud-related charges in April 2025 and is serving a 10-year prison sentence.
Urban was also ordered to pay $13 million (£9.6 million) in compensation.
The Ministry of Justice said Police Scotland was one of several agencies providing assistance to the FBI in carrying out the investigation.
