US gets second Scattered Spider-linked guilty plea

Tyler Robert Buchanan, a 24-year-old Scottish man linked to the Scattered Spider cybercrime group, has pleaded guilty in California to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. He admitted involvement in a phishing and SIM-swap scheme between September 2021 and April 2023 that defrauded at least a dozen US companies and stole at least $8 million in cryptocurrency. Buchanan faces a maximum 22-year prison sentence and is set to be sentenced on August 21, 2026. He is the second Scattered Spider-linked individual to plead guilty in the US, following Noah Michael Urban who is currently serving a 10-year sentence. Three other alleged senior figures in the operation still face criminal charges.