"Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are investigating a global hacker-for-hire operation that sent phishing emails to environmental groups, journalists and others."

"Three years ago, several environmental groups noticed that they had been receiving suspicious emails with fake Google News articles and other links related to their climate-change campaign against Exxon Mobil. The emails came from accounts that impersonated their own colleagues and lawyers.

Those phishing emails have now led to a federal criminal investigation into a sprawling hacking-for-hire operation that for years has targeted the email accounts of government officials, journalists, banks, environmental activists and other individuals, according to people briefed on the inquiry.

As part of the investigation, federal prosecutors in Manhattan conducted interviews earlier this year with environmental groups that received the emails, including the Rockefeller Family Fund, some of the people familiar with the inquiry said."

Nicole Hong, Barry Meier, and Ronen Bergman report for the New York Times June 9, 2020. [2]