Hackers have stolen personal details of hundreds of thousands of users of US jobs website Monster.com, according to Internet security firm Symantec. A total of 1.6 million entries, including information such as names, postal addresses and telephone numbers were stolen, the firm said.

The hackers used a type of virus known as a Trojan horse to access the information from Monster.com's computer servers, probably using stolen login details belonging to employers, Symantec said.

The Trojan was then programmed to send out personalized emails to Monster.com users advertising a bogus job opportunity and asking them to submit bank details.

Similar so-called phishing scams, in which users are asked to submit bank details or other personal details in response to an email posing as a bona fide request, have become commonplace in recent years.