New York, April 27 (IANS) A hacker stole the names, dates of birth and credit card numbers of 77 million people who play online games through the Sony PlayStation console, a media report said.

 
 Sony, whose online game network has been offline for nearly a week, said an "illegal and unauthorised intrusion" that took place between April 17 and 19 resulted in the loss of a significant amount of personal information that could be used in identity theft, the Wall Street Journal reported.
 
 The PlayStation network is used to play, chat online and watch movies streamed over the internet.
 
 Sony has warned users that intruders may have accessed their billing addresses and account information.
 
 It warned users of its PlayStation network and an allied service called Qriocity to watch their credit card statements for any unauthorised charges.
 
 It also told people to be on guard against email, telephone and postal scams.
 
 "While there is no evidence at this time that credit card data was taken, we cannot rule out the possibility," Sony said in a blog post.