UK man pleads guilty to cyber fraud targeting US firms

Tyler Robert Buchanan of Scotland has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft, with the admission made while he has been in custody since April 2025.

According to the government’s press release, from September 2021 to April 2023 Buchanan and other individuals conspired to conduct cyber intrusions and virtual currency thefts, targeting interactive entertainment, telecommunications, technology, BPO and IT suppliers, cloud communications providers, virtual currency companies, and individuals. The prosecutors say Buchanan and his co-conspirators defrauded at least a dozen companies and their employees as well as individual victims across the United States.

He is due to be sentenced on 21 August 2025 and faces a statutory maximum sentence of 22 years in federal prison. The case also involves other defendants, including Ahmed Hossam Eldin Elbadawy, Evans Onyeaka Osiebo and Joel Martin Evans, who still face charges. For context, a related defendant, Noah Urban, pleaded guilty in April 2025 and was later sentenced to ten years in prison with $13 million restitution.