In the 25+ years I have been operating as a qualified locksmith, I have noticed a significant increase in scammer locksmiths operating throughout all areas of Melbourne.
Over the years I have helped hundreds of people who have fallen victim and some who have come very close. Many victims are left out of pocket by costly below standard work from unqualified and in some extreme cases further damage has been done to their home, workplace or car costing hundreds and sometimes thousands to repair.
I hope that you find this page before engaging a potentially dodgy locksmith and you can arm yourself with the useful information I’m about to share.
I’m going to do my best to help you understand how they operate and the dirty tactics they use so that you and others won’t fall victim to their fraudulent and often criminal behavior.
WHERE & WHEN YOU WILL USUALLY FIND THEM
Companies posing as locksmiths spend huge amounts on quick to deploy pay per click advertising on internet search engines and social media platforms. It’s an incredibly fast thing to setup and when the negative reviews come pouring in, they will just change business names and repeat the process. They will target popular keywords and suburbs to appear like they are located nearby. You’re more likely to encounter them when competition is low, such as late at night, weekends, public holidays and holiday periods when less legitimate locksmiths are working.
SIGNS A LOCKSMITH COULD BE A FRAUD
1. PHYSICAL APPEARANCE & BEHAVIOR
They will be wearing casual cloths and no identifying work uniform. Often show up in a non commercial vehicle with minimal tools and equipment. Scammer locksmiths can appear confused like they don’t know what they are doing and will often spend more time on their phone asking someone else for advice. I’ve also heard stories of more than one dodgy locksmith showing up at a time. If they find the job too much of a challenge or they think they won’t get paid, they will become increasingly hostile towards customers.
2. WEBSITE APPEARANCE
The website will appear like a template and not dissimilar to other scammer locksmith websites. All the photos on the website are fake and not of real locksmiths carrying out work in Australia. These pictures are referred to as stock images which can be purchased for a few dollars each.
In the website address and/or title it will usually have keywords like 24/7, emergencylocksmith or locksmithmelbourne. The main page will also contained bogus made up reviews to make the site appear legitimate.
Consider checking the age of the website by using Wayback Machine. Determining a companies websites age can assist with validating its credibility. Rogue websites will often exaggerate how long the business has operated.
Here is an example of “instantlocksmiths.com.au”
3. PRICING & PAYMENT STRATEGY
They will advertise ridiculously low service call prices around $25-$45 making it seem like they are fair and reasonable. An unrealistic response time will be given and their service will come across too good to be true, because it is.
Before they commit to an agreed quoted price with you, they will ask you for your personal details, name, address and car registration number, this will later be used to intimidate you into paying. Once they arrive and finish the job, that’s when the prices go up. Customers are then coerced into paying 3 to 4 times more than a legitimate locksmith.
4. SOUNDS LIKE A CALL CENTRE
I’ve been told by customers that when they call these suspicious phone numbers that it sounds like they’ve rung a call centre outside Australia. The person taking the call will refer to the locksmiths as “technicians” and often take your details and to have someone call you back. The person who calls you back will have little to no locksmith knowledge of the work you require.
5. THIS LOCK IS HIGH SECURITY
This is one method used to extort more money out of victims. They will attempt to unlock the car or house door using picking or bypassing techniques. Being inexperienced they will fail every time, but tell you how your lock is high security and requires drilling (Which they intended to do from the start). They usually don’t have the parts to fix the lock once it’s damaged but may offer a return trip another day at another additional cost to you.
5. FAKE REVIEWS & TESTIMONIALS
The reviews will appear very generic and written by an automated computer designed to increase ratings. They will also appear to be very recent and easily identifiable as fake. Photos of the people leaving the testimonials will be generated by artificial intelligence or part of the website template.
6. FAKE COMPANIES OPERATING UNDER MULTIPLE NAMES
Fake locksmith business will often operate under multiple website addresses or generic business names. A quick way to check this is by searching the contact phone number through a popular search engine like Google. Often you will find multiple website addresses all using the same contact number. When too many negative reviews are left for one business name, they will close that site down and upload another which looks similar.
7. THINGS YOU SHOULD ASK FOR
If you’re suspicious of someone, it’s not unreasonable to ask the locksmith to prove his or her trade qualification before any work is started. A reputable locksmith must have a Security Licence Equipment & Installer Licence from Victoria Police. If work is to be carried out around children, a Working with Children Check must be provided. It’s also important the locksmith has valid public liability insurance.
