U.K. man pleads guilty to hacking scheme that stole $8 million in virtual currency from victims across U.S.

A U.K. man pleaded guilty in federal court to orchestrating a hacking scheme that stole $8 million in virtual currency from victims across America.

Tyler Robert Buchanan, 24, of Dundee, Scotland, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement. He appeared in the Central District of California’s federal court. 

Federal prosecutors said that Buchanan and several co-conspirators ran the scheme from September 2021 to April 2023. They primarily hacked into victims’ phones with phishing messages that appeared to be from the victim’s company or a contracted supplier. The text messages often said that the employees’ accounts were about to be deactivated and asked them to click on a link. 

When victims opened these links, they were directed to fraudulent websites designed to mimic legitimate ones. Upon entering their personal information, Buchanan and his co-conspirators were able to exploit the confidential data to access virtual wallets and steal the currency, according to prosecutors. 

Buchanan and his co-conspirators targeted at least 45 companies in the United States and abroad, including Canada, India, and the United Kingdom, court documents said. 

Buchanan is scheduled for a sentencing hearing on August 21, where he faces a maximum penalty of 22 years in federal prison.

Federal prosecutors said Buchanan’s co-conspirators Ahmed Hossam Eldin Elbadawy, 24, a.k.a. “AD,” of College Station, Texas; Evans Onyeaka Osiebo, 21, of Dallas, Texas; and Joel Martin Evans, 26, a.k.a. “joeleoli,” of Jacksonville, North Carolina, still face criminal charges. 

This case highlights a broader trend of cyber-enabled crime. The Federal Bureau of Investigation released a report earlier in April that found that such crimes defrauded Americans of nearly $21 billion in 2025. Scammers increasingly leveraged social media, messages, and AI to target people. Americans over 60 being are the most vulnerable demographic, reporting about $7.7 billion in losses last year, a 37% increase from 2024, according to the report.