Estonian arrested over Web bank thefts

Police in Estonia have arrested a man suspected of stealing millions of Euros from bank accounts across Europe.

The unnamed 24 year-old, from the Estonian capital Tallinn, is believed to have infected hundreds of computers with a Trojan horse program to obtain usernames and passwords from them. High-tech crime police in Europe believe the suspect stole money from accounts in Britain, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania and Spain. The man could face five years in jail if charged and found guilty.

According to a report from the Sydney Morning Herald, the suspect spread the Trojan horse by emailing thousands of messages that promised job offers. The offers pretended to come from legitimate organisations, such as banks and investment firms, but contained a link to a Web page, which when clicked on infected computers with the program.