Locking yourself out of your home or car is probably one of the most annoying things on the planet. It is inconvenient, embarrassing, and sometimes dangerous. When you are already stressed out over needing a locksmith in independence, you likely are not as attentive to detail as you normally would be when searching for a service provider. This can cause you to miss certain red flags and land you squarely in the middle of a locksmith scam.
It happens a lot more often than you might think, but it doesn’t have to happen to you. Read on to learn how to spot a locksmith scam, how they do it, and how you can avoid it.
- Fake Websites for Real Locksmith Businesses
A customer who needs locksmith services looks up the company contact information, or simply “locksmith near me,” and lands on the fake website. When they call the phone number shown on the site, the call is forwarded to a call center that is most definitely not nearby, and likely not even in the country. The call center agent pretends to be an employee of the company and ready to dispatch a certified locksmith to the caller’s home or business. Unfortunately, the technician who shows up is not a certified locksmith and often charges much more than was originally advertised.
Customers who have been tricked by the false websites often feel duped for being overcharged or they end up unhappy with the work done. Yet they don’t know that they’ve been dealing with a fake locksmith and a fraudulent company. Unfortunately, this type of commercial identity theft is becoming more common; it’s unpleasant and potentially dangerous for customers, but it also ruins the reputation of real businesses. Embree, for example, says that business has declined because of bad customer reviews posted online in his locksmith company’s name.
2. Real Ads for Fake Locksmith Services
Customers fall pray to this scam when they look online for locksmith services and click a normally looking search ad. Unfortunately, some of these paid ad spaces are occupied by fake locksmith companies. By all accounts, the ads and websites look legitimate. And they program the ads so that Google search results and maps display them as physical stores in your area. Some even have pictures of storefronts and “customer” testimonials. They are located at the top of search results and their prices are better than average.
These fake lead-generation ads may be created by call centers and or individual scammers. Call center operators – that in reality are based out state or outside of the United States – have unskilled locksmith subcontractors on-call. When an unsuspecting requests locksmith services, it sets the second phase of the scam into motion. The operator will give you an irresistibly low quote and then contact a sub-contractor is dispatched to you.
