Monster Worldwide Inc, the popular global website for job hunters, has said that hackers have broken into its databases and stolen personal data.

Monster spokeswoman Nikki Richardson confirmed yesterday that sites around the world had been targeted, but said some regions, notably Asia Pacific and eastern Europe, were spared.

She said Monster was working with the "appropriate law enforcement agencies" but declined to say in which countries. In the United States, where the company is based, "an investigation is in progress."

A statement on www.monster.com said: "We recently learned our database was illegally accessed and certain contact and account data were taken, including Monster user IDs and passwords, email addresses, names, phone numbers, and some basic demographic data."

The company advised clients to change their password and said it had taken its own "corrective steps." Hackers could use email addresses to "phish" for further information, the company warned.

"We found evidence of an intrusion last week and immediately notified federal law enforcement officials as well as the card brands," said Robert Baldwin, Heartland's president in a statement on January 20.