British tabloids have a long history of hiring people who have access to law enforcement tools in order to intercept private communications: https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/sep/21/privacy2

One 150-year-old newspaper, News of the World, shut down in 2011 when it came out that they'd hacked the voicemail of a murder victim and, prior to that, several British military personnel who were killed in action. It wasn't publicized as to whether this was done via spoofing or via access to law enforcement tools.