Scottish baby-faced scammer wanted in US after £7m fraud scheme

A Scottish scammer is wanted in the US after a £7million online fraud scheme and won’t know his fate until next year.

Baby-faced Robert Barr is looking at 20 years in prison, if he is sent to America for trial and convicted. The 27-year-old has been fighting extradition since 2022, when the FBI named him as a suspect.

It’s alleged that he and associates stole digital cash from New York financier Reggie Middleton. They allegedly accessed his email and located cryptocurrency addresses, reports the Daily Record

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A second, unnamed victim is said to have lost £485,000 from her accounts in a similar scam. The alleged frauds date back to 2017.

Barr, of Biggar, Lanarkshire, saw his case called at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last week where it was said he maintains his opposition to the extradition bid. Four days have now been set aside for a full extradition hearing in February.

Georgia prosecutors say Barr worked with two others in an elaborate con known as “SIM swapping”. This is where fraudsters dupe mobile phone firms into handing over details of customers’ SIM cards so they can hack into cryptocurrency accounts or wallets.

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Middleton, who described himself as an investor and philanthropist, claimed he prevented even more being taken. He told the Sunday Mail previously: “I caught whoever it was as they were doing it, 30 minutes after it started. I did not lose all my money but a large amount.

“It’s been a very big loss financially and professionally. My company was essentially put out of business after years of hard work.”

Barr was also jailed for 21 months at Airdrie Sheriff Court in May this year for hacking into the email accounts of a cryptocurrency trader in England.

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He and an accomplice stole around £3000 and were only stopped from getting another £33,000 when the victim employed security experts to prevent funds being transferred.

Sheriff Derek Livingston told him: “You have a degree of insight into what you did and accept your culpability. Otherwise the sentence I’m imposing would be a good deal higher.”

Defence advocate Fred Mackintosh said Barr suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, but added: “He accepts full responsibility. He was well aware of what he was doing.”