The unnamed employee was fired after Netflix learned about the data theft on April 4, the company said in a letter to the office of the New Hampshire Attorney General that was published online this week.
The worker “accessed over approximately the past two months, without authorization, the credit card information of some Netflix customers who spoke with the individual over the telephone,” Netflix Senior Counsel Sharon Williamson wrote.
The employee obtained customer names and credit card numbers, she wrote. Netflix is investigating the incident and has notified police.
On Wednesday, Netflix declined to say how many customers were affected or whether any incidents of fraud had resulted from the theft.
“We do everything we can to safeguard our members’ personal data and privacy, and when there’s an issue like this we deal with it swiftly and decisively,” said Steve Swasey, a Netflix spokesman.
Netflix’s letter to the attorney general’s office was dated April 20. Netflix planned to notify two New Hampshire residents on April 21 that their data had been stolen, Williamson wrote.
Robert McMillan covers computer security and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Robert on Twitter at @bobmcmillan. Robert’s e-mail address is robert_mcmillan@idg.com