Guilt admitted by British hacker in $8M crypto theft scheme

BBC reports that British man Tyler Buchanan could face a maximum sentence of 22 years in prison after pleading guilty to a scheme that targeted the computer systems of around 12 companies and resulted in the theft of at least $8 million in cryptocurrency from U.S. victims.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Buchanan was involved in a group that used SMS phishing attacks to trick employees into revealing their login details so they could hack computer systems. The group targeted companies in industries including virtual currency, technology, telecommunications, and entertainment between September 2021 and April 2023.

Authorities found a digital device at Buchanan's home in Scotland containing sensitive data from several individuals, along with a file that has the login credentials for one victim's account and cryptocurrency seed words. He admitted to one charge of aggravated identity theft and another for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and will be sentenced on Aug. 21.