A Dundee hacker will wait another month to learn his US prison sentence after a court hearing was rearranged. Taylor Buchanan, 24, pleaded guilty earlier this year to his role in the Scattered Spider cybercrime group, which used phishing to steal £6 million.
Hearing postponed to October
Buchanan was due to be sentenced yesterday for crimes including one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. The US Attorney's Office for the Central District of California has confirmed the sentencing is delayed until October.
The group used text message phishing attacks to trick employees into revealing login credentials, giving access to computer systems. Through the scam, the group stole at least $8 million US — around £5.9 million — in virtual currency from victims in the United States.
Plea agreement details
In his plea agreement, Buchanan admitted that between September 2021 and April 2023, the group planned to scam telecommunications companies, IT suppliers, cloud communications providers, virtual currency firms and individuals.
A device seized at Buchanan's home in Scotland showed he possessed names and addresses of multiple victims, as well as a text file containing cryptocurrency seed phrases and login credentials for one victim's account.
Custody and maximum sentence
Buchanan has been in US federal custody since April 2025 and faces a maximum sentence of 22 years in prison. A spokesperson for the US Attorney's Office confirmed the sentencing hearing will now take place at 10am (6pm BST) on Thursday, October 1 in Santa Ana, California. No reason was given for the rearrangement.
A co-conspirator, Noah Michael Urban, 21, of Palm Coast, Florida, is serving a 10-year federal prison sentence and was ordered to pay $13 million US in restitution. Urban pleaded guilty in April 2025 to three fraud-related counts. It is understood that three other defendants charged with Buchanan still face federal charges.
