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* Hacker stole names, addresses, bank account numbers
* Vodafone says stolen data of no direct use to the hacker
* Company warns of "phishing" attacks to obtain more data
FRANKFURT, Sept 12 (Reuters) - A hacker has stolen thenames, addresses and bank account numbers of about 2 millionVodafone Germany customers who should beware thatcriminals may now try to elicit other information such aspasswords, the company said.
The mobile phone operator, which has around 32 millionclients in Germany said on Thursday that the hacker, who hadgained access to one of its servers, had not obtained anypasswords, security numbers or connection data.
"It is hardly possible to use the data to get direct accessto the bank accounts of those affected," the mobile phonenetwork operator said in a statement.
But it warned customers that criminals could launchso-called "phishing" attacks, using fake e-mails, to try totrick them into revealing more details.
"This attack was only possible with the utmost criminalenergy as well as insider knowledge and happened deep within theIT infrastructure of the company," Vodafone said.
A source close to the company, who declined to be named,said the investigation was looking into a person who was workingfor a sub-contractor for Vodafone's administration system.
Privacy and personal data are sensitive issues in Germanydue partly to a history of heavy surveillance of citizens in theformer communist East and under Nazi rule.
There has also been public indignation over reports of U.S.snooping based on documents leaked by fugitive former NationalSecurity Agency contractor Edward Snowden.
The scandal unleashed by Snowden, which has filled Germannewspapers for weeks, has become a major headache for ChancellorAngela Merkel ahead of a Sept. 22 election.
"This may well be one of the largest cases of personal datathefts for German customers," Mikko Hypponen, chief researchofficer at internet security company F-secure told Reuters.
In a previous major international case, which also involvedGermans amongst others, data was stolen more than two years agofrom almost 80 million user accounts of Sony's PlayStation Network.
And in 2009 in the United States, a hacker called AlbertGonzalez pleaded guilty to stealing tens of millions of paymentcard numbers by breaking into corporate computer systems atcompanies such as 7-Eleven Inc and Target Co.
Vodafone said it was working with police to investigate thematter and had sealed the ports the hacker had used to accessits servers.
A special cybercrime unit in the state of NorthRhine-Westphalia has taken the lead in the case, the publicprosecutor said.
