A 24-year-old Scottish man has pleaded guilty in the United States to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft after being linked to an $8 million (£5.9 million) virtual currency scam.
Tyler Buchanan, from Dundee, admitted that between September 2021 and April 2023, he and his co-conspirators used text message phishing attacks targeting employees of at least a dozen companies. The group posed as the companies or their suppliers to trick employees into revealing login credentials, which were then used to access computer systems and steal virtual currency.
The US Department of Justice said a device seized at Buchanan's home in Scotland contained names and addresses of multiple victims, as well as a text file with cryptocurrency seed phrases and login credentials for one victim's account. The stolen credentials were sent to an online Telegram channel administered by Buchanan and another co-conspirator.
Buchanan now faces a maximum sentence of 22 years in prison when he is sentenced on 21 August. Three other defendants, all from the United States, are still facing criminal charges. Another co-conspirator, Noah Michael Urban, pleaded guilty in April 2025 to three fraud-related charges and is serving a 10-year prison sentence, with $13 million (£9.6 million) in restitution ordered.
The investigation was assisted by Police Scotland, among other agencies, working with the FBI.
