CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA — Tyler Robert Buchanan pleaded guilty in federal court in the Central District of California to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft in connection with an $8 million virtual currency hacking scheme, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Buchanan, 24, is from Dundee, Scotland.

Federal prosecutors said Buchanan and several co-conspirators ran the scheme from September 2021 to April 2023, stealing virtual currency from victims across the United States. According to court documents, Buchanan and his co-conspirators targeted at least 45 companies in the United States, Canada, India, and the United Kingdom.

The conspirators primarily hacked victims' phones with phishing messages that appeared to come from the victim's company or a contracted supplier, prosecutors said. The messages often told employees that their accounts were about to be deactivated and asked them to click on a link.

Victims who clicked the links were directed to fraudulent websites designed to mimic legitimate ones. After victims entered personal information on those sites, Buchanan and his co-conspirators used the data to access virtual wallets and steal currency.

A sentencing hearing for Buchanan is scheduled for August 21. He faces a maximum penalty of 22 years in federal prison.

Ahmed Hossam Eldin Elbadawy, 24, also known as "AD," of College Station, Texas; Evans Onyeaka Osiebo, 21, of Dallas, Texas; and Joel Martin Evans, 26, also known as "joeleoli," of Jacksonville, North Carolina, still face criminal charges, prosecutors said.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation released a report in April that found cyber-enabled crime defrauded Americans of nearly $21 billion in 2025. The report found that scammers increasingly leveraged social media, messages, and artificial intelligence to target people. Americans over 60 reported about $7.7 billion in losses in 2025, a 37% increase from 2024, according to the FBI report.