Key member of notorious hacking gang 'led by young Scots cyber criminal' jailed for 10 years
US prosecutors claim Noah Urban was working with Tyler Buchanan, from Dundee, and others when he stole cryptocurrency in one of the most sophisticated hacking scams the country has seen.
A key member of an alleged hacking gang believed to be led by a young Scots cyber criminal has been jailed for 10 years and ordered to pay back almost £10million.
US prosecutors claim Noah Urban, also known online as “King Bob", was working with Tyler Buchanan, from Dundee, and others when he stole cryptocurrency in one of the most sophisticated hacking scams the country has seen.
Now, as 23-year-old Buchanan prepares to face a potential 47-year prison sentence for his alleged part in the alleged scam, Urban is starting a decade-long stretch behind bars after being ordered to pay $13 million (£9.6m) to his victims.
The 20-year-old pleaded guilty to charges in April - just days before Buchanan was extradited to the US from Spain to face justice.
A statement from the US Attorney’s Office said: “Senior U.S. District Judge Harvey E. Schlesinger has sentenced Noah Michael Urban aka ‘King Bob,’ ‘Sosa,’ ‘Elijah,’ and ‘Gustavo Fring,’ to 10 years in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft.
“The court also ordered Urban to forfeit approximately $4.8 million in assets, which includes cryptocurrency and other property. Urban was also ordered to pay $13 million in restitution.”
In November last year, US law enforcement unsealed criminal charges against five young men who have been linked to notorious cybercrime group Scattered Spider, alleging they targeted employees of companies nationwide with phishing text messages before using them to harvested employee data and hack into virtual currency accounts to steal millions of dollars in cryptocurrency.
Amongst them was Dundonian Buchanan, who was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft.
Buchanan is reported to have fled Dundee after a masked gang turned up at his mum’s home with lit blowtorches, demanding passwords for his cryptocurrency accounts.
The former pupil at Craigie High School in Dundee is not thought to have been seen in Scotland since the raid back in February 2023.
Claims over the raid surfaced on encrypted messaging app Telegram, which Buchanan was known to frequent under the username ‘Tylerb’.
The Scot was arrested at the airport in Palma de Mallorca while trying to board a flight to Italy last year and US court documents state that Scots cops found “approximately 20 devices” and browser history allegedly showing websites used by Scattered Spider.
Urban, from Palm Coast, who has also been accused of leaking unreleased music, including songs by Ariana Grande, was sentenced on Wednesday.
According to court documents, Urban was involved in stealing cryptocurrency from at least 59 victims across the United States between August 2022 and March 2023.
Prosecutors say Urban and others conducted targeted attacks called “SIM swaps,” to obtain victims’ personal identification information before hacking into their cryptocurrency accounts.
The Attorney’s Office said: “During this same timeframe, Urban was also part of a group that targeted employees of companies nationwide with phishing text messages. The harvested employee credentials were then used to log in and steal non-public company data and information.
“The group also used stolen information obtained from victim company intrusions, leaked data sets, and other sources to gain unauthorized access to numerous individuals’ cryptocurrency accounts and wallets and steal millions of dollars of virtual currency.
“The FBI served a search warrant on Urban’s residence and found evidence on Urban’s computer linking him to the victims’ email accounts and cryptocurrency wallets. In addition, cryptocurrency totalling approximately $4.8 million from the victims’ stolen accounts was found on Urban’s devices. The total loss to the victims was over $13 million.”
Last year, prosecutors said that, if convicted, each defendant would face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, up to five years for conspiracy and a mandatory two-year consecutive prison sentence for aggravated identity theft.
They said Buchanan would also face up to 20 years in prison for the wire fraud count.
The Scot has been named by the FBI as a suspected ringleader of Scattered Spider - the group linked crippling attacks on retail giants Marks & Spencer, the Co-op, and Harrods.