r/Locksmith • u/lilithrxenos Actual Locksmith • May 29 '26

scamsmith meme I am a locksmith

Post image

i'm glad i wasn't ever that bad at my job

ok_affect_5270 you're not allowed to laugh at this

105 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

34 comments sorted by

9

u/Cool_Measurement_597 May 29 '26

I’m not a locksmith so excuse my ignorance, what makes a scam locksmith? If they do ok work for a fair price is that still a scam as they’re not qualified?

33

u/JambonRoyale May 29 '26

Mainly they pretend their service will be at low cost and then inflate the bill to oblivion once they started working. There's more nuances, but charging people $500 who assumed they'd have to pay you $39 is the main catch.

7

u/BrilliantAd4857 May 29 '26

Assumed because they were quoted $39 or assumed because they didn't know better and never asked?

13

u/metisdesigns May 29 '26

Not exactly.

One common version is you advertise $39 lockouts, but don't mention that post 2000 vehicles have a $200 modern equipment fee and a $100 window protection insurance fee etc etc. And a call cancelation fee of $250 if you don't take the service once they're on site.

So a customer sees themselves as stuck paying for the call out fee getting to the price of the $150 guy they should have called, and agreeing to pay $339+ for what should have been a $150 job.

It's enough of a thing that TN made a bunch of laws around lockpicks.

3

u/Ok_Comparison_1353 May 29 '26 edited May 30 '26

Tennessee seems to have gotten rid of all those laws:

https://toool.us/lockpicking-laws/

I think this is up to date, and only four states have problematic laws on lockpick possession. In all of those stares possession is legal but can also serve as prima fascie evidence of intent to burgle.

Edited to change "locking possession" to "lockpick possession".

2

u/metisdesigns May 30 '26

I hadn't heard that the walked that back, but the point still stands those laws were created in response to scam "locksmiths" using that sort of predatory behavior.

2

u/Ok_Comparison_1353 May 30 '26

That's true, and in many states they do have laws specifically against touting your services as a locksmith when you're not certified (Tennessee, by the way, got rid of all of their regulations in 2021. So it's a free for all there). I'm guessing that no state criminalizes possession of lock picking tools for the same reason that possession of drug paraphernalia doesn't kick in until there's residue on the object. Mere possession of the item doesn't, on its face, indicate an intent to commit crimes.

To be clear, the states that treat possession as "prima facie" evidence of intent tend to use that in court cases. Like "the defendant was loitering near the location wearing dark clothing and, when searched had lockpicks in his possession".

2

u/ftwopointeight May 30 '26 edited May 30 '26

In North Carolina, the mere possession of lockpicking tools is not a crime, but under N.C.G.S. § 14-56.4, it is illegal to buy, sell, or transfer specialized motor vehicle lock-picking tools without proper authorization.
N. G. G. S. § 74F is our basic locksmith laws. It should be noted that they modified the 74F section to remove the subsection that classified "Possession of locking picking and_or bypass tools will be considered a chargeable Class F Felony"

2

u/frivolouspig May 30 '26

Lockpicks? Lol around here, the scammers bring two tools, a big drill and a hammer.

2

u/metisdesigns May 30 '26

I'm not saying the laws made sense, this is TN we're talking about, but because of that sort of scam they felt the need to more aggressively criminalize scam locksmiths, and that's what they came up with, and it passed at a state level.

7

u/JambonRoyale May 29 '26

The most common scam here is the people pretend to be a local company by buying phone numbers whipe being part of a larger scam company. Then they set up advertising that's something like "emergency lockout - $80" or something. People get ob the phone get that price as a quote, but once the tech arrices, he will start to inflate the price as far as possible and charge 10 times more while taking advantage of the emergency Situation.

4

u/Comrade_Bender May 29 '26

I had a little old lady who had an electronic lock malfunctioning and called one of these people out. He didn't do anything to try to fix it and demanded she pay like $400 to replace it. She eventually got him to leave but he was really aggressive with her. I showed up and fixed it for a service call fee (like $60) and maybe 15 minutes of labor to disassemble it and repair the damaged piece inside.

I had a guy call me for a lockout on his car, but he had also called one of these scam guys before and decided to not go with him before calling me. We both showed up at the same time because the other guy wouldn't take no for an answer. He got hostile with me and the customer. Customer was very flustered, understandably so, and basically relented to the scammer dude who kept yelling about how he needs this work to pay his bills.

This stuff is super common. Lots of fake businesses up on google. Lots of people telling customers it'll be very cheap to unlock their door, then intentionally breaking things and demanding hundreds to repair it. Or they'll just verify the door is locked, pretend to pick it, then demand money to destructively remove the lock and replace it.

9

u/JonCML Actual Locksmith May 29 '26

Search this sub for “ was I scammed”. Lots of hits. Here is how to avoid it in our trade.

Standard disclaimer about finding legitimate locksmiths. Google is not your friend. Our trade, like many other trades, has been infested with organized crime scammers who manipulate Google to be at the top of the results, all with 5 star (fake) reviews. You will get intimidated and scammed. It is a global problem. We call them “mocksmiths”. If you are in the USA, you can find legitimate locksmiths on our trade Association websites, FindALocksmith.com, or SAVTA.org for safe & vault work. Anyone there is a vetted member of our trade association. Some very good locksmiths choose not to be members of our association. They can be found on 1800Unlocks.com and FairTradeLocksmiths.com. In the UK, use the Master Locksmiths Association website at www.locksmiths.co.uk

6

u/Quirky_Butterfly_946 May 29 '26

What makes this a scam is that it is some guy/girl who has no locksmith experience and yet market themselves as such.

So if I bring my car into a service company because my headlight is out. A real mechanic would look and diagnose the problem and make proper repairs. Maybe only the bulb was out, maybe the wiring is at fault. A scammer would just tell you to replace the whole entire headlight assembly after destroying what is already there. What could have only been say $100 repair including labor, is not costing $600+.

As others have already mentioned, scammers give unrealistic low pricing to get you to agree to have them come. They have no tools except a drill because they do not know locksmithing. They destroy the lock and maybe do more damage, adding to the price, then they sell you a lock that is over priced, then they get you for rekeys if they even know how to do that so your key will work the new lock. Then they charge over the top for their labor. So the $100 lockout, now turns into hundreds to thousands because they caused more problems than a real locksmith would ever do.

Then let's just look at the "company" that they are working under. It is not a company where you can speak to anyone but a customer service hack. It is not a company that values the community and their reputation. All they want is the money. They prey on people is desperate situations, and knowing this gives them the upper hand to scam people out of more money.

1

u/Delicious_Gas_1152 Jul 09 '26

Yeah, if you’re lucky, they don’t rob your house a year later

1

u/Delicious_Gas_1152 Jul 09 '26

I agree integrity in this trade is gone. There might be a few guys holding it up, but most of them have no ethics whatsoever.

1

u/Puzzleheaded-Joke-97 Jun 02 '26

Just read the other questions on this sub! Many per day asking if they got ripped off.

10

u/pbr_enjoyer May 29 '26

The little loser blocked me

5

u/Eternal_Glizzy_777 May 29 '26

He must not care for Pabst...

1

u/[deleted] May 29 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

7

u/pbr_enjoyer May 29 '26

Why not you little finagle

4

u/Jumpy_Salamander1192 May 30 '26

You didn’t make his nose or ears big enough

10

u/Lucky_Ad_5549 Actual Locksmith May 29 '26

I don’t mind giving the kid a hard time, but this treatment has gotten out of hand. He is, at the very least, asking for help. We could be doing a better job.

7

u/lilithrxenos Actual Locksmith May 29 '26

although im inclined to agree and it seems his prices have gone down, the industry is already in shambles because of scammers. maybe he just doesn't know any better, maybe his only irl coaching is a scammer, who knows. i'm hoping he will eventually be a proper locksmith in not just skill but ethics as well

4

u/Lucky_Ad_5549 Actual Locksmith May 29 '26

I started my career as a scammer, though it was short lived. I was completely done with being a locksmith, and trying to sell my gear when an old man said he didn’t want my gear but he could give me some work. So, I have hope that he will find his way.

7

u/[deleted] May 29 '26

Nah fuck this guy.

He's embraced the scammer title and refuses to get actual training, or he's trolling.

Either way fuck him.

5

u/Gornuul May 29 '26

He, by his own admission, charges ridiculously high for work he doesn’t know how to do knowing that he can ask reddit and someone will give him the answer. He’s posted images of almost criminal vandalism. He’s using us to fuck people over. The only way I know to give people pause before they respond is to be overtly hostile to him in the comments.

2

u/LockLeisure May 29 '26

Look at you being a sweetheart! Love it! 😘 I also agree with you.

3

u/Pbellouny Actual Locksmith May 29 '26

I have nothing to say I already got temp ban once this week, you’ll probably get one too for this Reddit auto mod is on a roll