Gordon Brown has been left 'shocked' by the way his family's personal details have been obtained through alleged 'criminality' and 'unethical means', his office said last night.
It has been claimed the former prime minister was targeted by The Sun and the Sunday Times.
The two newspapers allegedly accessed details from his legal file, his Abbey National bank account and his baby son's medical records.
Rebekah Brooks, left, phoned Gordon Brown, right, to tell him that The Sun had obtained his four-month-old son's medical records
Family portrait: Gordon Brown with wife Sarah and sons John and baby Fraser, when he was Chancellor
Mr Brown's spokeswoman said: 'Gordon Brown has now been informed of the scale of intrusion into his family's life.
'The family has been shocked by the level of criminality and the unethical means by which personal details have been obtained.
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'The matter is in police hands. The police have confirmed Mr Brown is on Glenn Mulcaire's list.
'And some time ago Mr Brown passed all relevant evidence he had to the police.'
On Twitter, Mr Brown's wife Sarah wrote: 'So sad to learn all I am about my family's privacy - it is very personal and really hurtful if all true.'
Meet and greet: Three years ago it was all smiles as the then prime minister Gordon Brown met Rupert Murdoch's daughter Elisabeth (left), Baroness Amos (centre) and Rebekah Wade (now Brooks) during a reception for women in business at 10 Downing Street
Intrusion: Gordon Brown has been shocked by the 'unethical' way that News International obtained details of his baby son's medical records
Concerned: Brooks reads a copy of The Times newspaper as she leaves News International building in Wapping, London yesterday
A former aide to Mr Brown questioned how The Sun, when News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks was editor, obtained details of his son Fraser's cystic fibrosis.
David Muir, one of Mr Brown's most senior advisers at No 10, said: 'They were contacted by Rebekah Brooks, who told them that they had information that Fraser had cystic fibrosis, which was a matter that they, the family, were just getting their heads around at the time and dealing with.
'And you've got to remember this is just after they had suffered the bereavement with Jennifer (the Browns' first child, who died soon after she was born) as well.
Media mogul: News Corporation CEO Rupert Murdoch holds a copy of The Sun as he is driven away from his flat in central London yesterday
Working it out: Rupert Murdoch returns later to his London apartment with his personal trainer
In the spotlight: Elisabeth Murdoch, the CEO of production company Shine Limited, leaves her father's home in Westminster last night
'They didn't know how Rebekah came across this information and now, what's come to light, it was obtained by what appeared to be illegal methods.'
Last night Sky News quoted News International sources as being 'comfortable' that stories reported by The Sun about Mr Brown's children were obtained via legitimate means.
A News International spokesman said: 'We note the allegations made today concerning the reporting of matters relating to Gordon Brown.
Gordon Brown's wife Sarah took to Twitter to talk about the claims
'So that we can investigate these matters further, we ask that all information concerning these allegations is provided to us.'
But the Guardian said there was evidence that a private investigator used a serving police officer to trawl the police national computer for information about him.
That investigator also targeted another Labour MP who was the subject of hostile inquiries by the News of the World, but it is not confirmed whether News International was specifically involved in trawling police computers for information on Brown.
Friends of the former Prime Minister and his family said Brooks's call in October 2006 had caused them immense distress.
Mr Brown was outraged and wanted to issue a pre-emptive statement, BBC Newsnight political editor Michael Crick told Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight.
Rebekah Brooks was so worried that such as statement would ruin a Sun 'exclusive' that she called Damian McBride, one of Gordon Brown's closest lieutenants, and got 'quite heavy', according to Crick.
The leak, which appears to be a blatant breach of the Data Protection Act, came five years after a story about the Browns' first child revealed she had suffered a brain hemorrhage.
Only a small team of medical specialists had been aware of the girl's condition before her death on January 6, 2002.
The new revelations also included allegations that his bank details and legal file were also accessed by News International.
In dramatic new developments, the News of the World's stablemate the Sunday Times has also been drawn into the hacking row.
A 'blagger' working for the paper apparently posed as the former Prime Minister on six occasions to obtain details from an Abbey National account.
The politician's lawyers, Allen & Overy, were also tricked into handing over confidential information by a conman working for the Sunday Times, the Guardian revealed.
The Sun also obtained details from Mr Brown's son's medical record and published a story about them, it was claimed.
Abbey National carried out an internal investigation and discovered that in January 2000 - when Gordon Brown was Chancellor - someone pretended six times to be the high-profile politician.
They rang the Bradford call centre and were able to get details from his account. Despite the investigation, the bank never worked out who was responsible.
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