PASADENA, Texas -- With gas prices skyrocketing, fuel thefts are becoming more and more common.

But thieves like the ones captured on a surveillance video at a Pasadena Chevron last week have put a new spin on an old crime.

Police believe the thieves gained access to the computer of a gas pump and made off with quite a haul.

“They took more than 200 gallons,” Chevron manager John Abdulla said. “Almost $1,000.”

But how could that happen?

“A lot of your safeguards and keys and locks are not hardwired. They’re actually in the software,” local gas station owner Zaf Tahir said.

Think of the pump as a computer.  All you have to do to make the gas come out is type in the right passcode.  The thieves are taking advantage of that, and causing a lot of damage.

But how to they get access to the codes?

“A lot of service people have access to these codes. I’m sure the companies that installed or serviced these pumps have access to these codes. That information needs to be safeguarded,” Tahir said.