An Estonian man has been arrested by police for suspected phishing that may have netted him millions of euros from bank accounts pillaged in Great Britain, Spain, Germany, and the Baltic countries.

According to the Associated Press, the unnamed 24-year-old was detained last week after a year-long investigation by Estonian authorities. The man is alleged to have seeded a Trojan horse to thousands of PCs using e-mails that promised job offers from government institutions, banks, and investment firms. The link embedded in the messages actually led recipients to a bogus Web site where they were infected with the malicious code.

The Trojan, said police, stole usernames and passwords from the victims' computers.

"The last 12 months have seen a dramatic rise in the number of new viruses, worms and Trojan horses designed to steal the keystrokes of innocent computer users," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for U.K.-based security firm Sophos, in a statement. "The information stolen by this kind of phishing attack can be equivalent to someone watching over your shoulder as you type your password into the computer."

If convicted, the man would face up to five years in prison, authorities said.