£9m crypto hack accused is facing 47 years in prison

He and others face wire fraud charges

- JOHN DINGWALL

A SCOT is facing up to 47 years in prison in the US after being charged with involvement in a £9million cryptocurrency fraud.

Tyler Buchanan, 22, is accused of being part of a hacking group that carried out a sophisticated scam which accessed the personal financial information of thousands of people.

e and four others are alleged to have sent phishing text messages to victims' mobile phones warning that their accounts would be deactivated.

The links in the SMS messages directed them to websites which looked legitimate, requesting personal log-in information.

It is alleged the gang used the data to access cryptocurrency accounts and stole £9million worth of virtual currency.