UK Phone Hacking Scandal Fast Facts Here’s a look at the phone hacking scandal in the United Kingdom. Journalists at British newspapers are accused of making payments to police and hacking into the phones of celebrities, law makers, royalty, murder victims and other figures in the news. Most cases involve News Corp.’s News of the World, but the Sun as well as Mirror Group publications have also settled cases. Timeline November 2005 – British tabloid News of the World (NoW) prints a story about Prince William injuring his knee, prompting royal officials to complain to the police of probable voicemail hacking.