The Sunday Times used a 'blagger' to trick an Abbey National call centre worker into handing over the bank account details of then chancellor of the exchequer Gordon Brown, according to the Guardian.
Abbey National's fraud department found that in January 2000, someone acting for the Sunday Times contacted its call centre six times posing as Brown, successfully obtaining his account details, says the Guardian.
A separate BBC report corroborates the Guardian claims and says Abbey National wrote to Sunday Times editor John Witherow with its suspicions.
The BBC also notes that "knowingly or recklessly obtaining or disclosing personal data or information without the consent of the data controller" has been illegal since 1998.
The latest development moves the News International scandal beyond the News of the World and phone hacking.
The Guardian claims that another Murdoch title, the Sun obtained medical records in 2006 belonging to Brown's four month old son that revealed he had cystic fibrosis. The tabloid used the information for a story.