A 22-year-old British national, allegedly the leader of an organized cybercrime group that targeted nearly four dozen U.S. companies, was arrested in Palma de Mallorca at the behest of the FBI, said the Spanish National Police.
The young man allegedly orchestrated attacks on 45 companies in the United States through phishing campaigns, and subsequently gained unauthorized access to sensitive company information and cryptocurrency wallets.
Cyber Scammer Used Familiar Playbook
The modus operandi of the cybercriminal was simple: use phishing techniques to obtain access credentials from individuals,; use these credentials to infiltrate corporate work systems; exfiltrate sensitive company data that was likely monetized and put up for sale on dark web forums; and also access victims’ cryptocurrency wallets to siphon them off.
This modus operandi allowed the scammer to amass a significant amount of bitcoins. The Spanish police said the young cyber scammer managed to gain control over 391 bitcoins – approximately valued at over $27 million – from his victims.
The arrest occurred at Palma airport as the suspect was preparing to leave Spain on a charter flight to Naples.
The operation was conducted by agents of the Spanish National Police in collaboration with the FBI. The investigation, led by the Central Cybercrime Unit and supported by the Balearic Superior Headquarters, began in late May when the FBI’s Los Angeles office requested information about the suspect that they believed was in Spain.
The FBI reported that an International Arrest Warrant had been issued by a Federal Court of the Central District of California, prompting intensified efforts to locate the suspect.
Laptop, Phone Seized
The suspect was carrying a laptop and a mobile phone at the time of his arrest, which were seized. The judicial authority subsequently ordered the suspect to be placed in provisional prison.
The FBI did not immediately provide a response on whether the young British man would be extradited to the U.S. to be tried, nor did they release details on an indictment, but many similar cases in the recent past show the possibility of that happening soon.
Linked to Scattered Spider?
The cybercrime-focused vx-underground X account (formerly known as Twitter) said the U.K. man arrested was a SIM-swapper who operated under the alias “Tyler.” Fraudster’s transfer the target’s phone number in a sim swapping attack to a device they control and intercept any text messages or phone calls to the victim. This includes one-time passcodes for authentication or password reset links sent over an SMS.
“He is a known SIM-swapper and is allegedly involved with the infamous Scattered Spider group,” vx-underground tweeted.
The details, however, could not be confirmed but independent journalist Brian Krebs said the accused is a 22-year-old from Dundee, Scotland named Tyler Buchanan, also allegedly known as “tylerb” on Telegram chat channels centered around SIM-swapping.
“Most notably he is believed to be a key component of the MGM ransomware attack, and is believed to be associated with several other high profile ransomware attacks performed by Scattered Spider.” – vx-underground
The initial access vector in the attack on MGM included targeting of a help desk executive with social engineering tactics. Mandiant in its latest report found Scattered Spider aka UNC3944 using the same modus operandi, and although no victim names were stated, it now suggests the possible linkage between them.
*Update (June 17 5:45 AM EST): Added details on the 22-year old young cyber scammer’s identity and possible links to Scattered Spider group.
