SANTA ROSA, Calif. – In Sonoma County, California, thieves have hit upon a surprising low-tech way to steal gasoline, the Press Democrat reports. Instead of installing devices to gather credit and debit card information at the pump, these criminals put the nozzles from one side to the other and waited for a customer to enter payment information. Then the thief simply pumped the gas into his vehicle or container.

Peter Van Alyea, owner of Redwood Oil Co, which supplies and owns several stations in the area, called the scam low-tech but devious. “It’s pretty appalling,” he told the news source. Van Alyea has placed warnings at his locations and called the police to report the thefts.

Van Alyea has given some of the victims their money back, while others taken in by the scam have not requested a refund. “This is becoming a popular way of getting free gasoline and making the innocent consumer suffer,” he said.

Santa Rosa Police Sgt. Eric Litchfield said although only one report has been received by his office, he expects more will come in if the price of gasoline starts to rise quickly.

Meanwhile, skimming continues to plague Florida stations. A recent statewide probe of 6,000 stations uncovered 81 devices.