Scotland Man Pleads Guilty in Massive $8 Million Crypto-Heist and Phishing Campaign

A 24-year-old pleaded guilty for his role in an international cybercrime ring that, between September 2021 and April 2023, executed a two-stage campaign targeting employees at major entertainment, telecommunications, and technology companies via SMS phishing to capture credentials and exfiltrate data to a Telegram channel; the group then used SIM swapping to intercept 2FA and steal over $8 million in cryptocurrency, with law enforcement seizing files and seed phrases during a 2023 raid.