How to spot locksmith ripoffs? We would like to provide you with a link to a YouTube video placed online by the CBC/Radio-Canada television show “Marketplace”. With almost 7 million views, this +20-minute video shows and discusses some of the problems in the Toronto Locksmith industry (and hence Canada). We have been telling this same story for a decade. If it is not yet clear what this means, please take the time to view the video. To get more information, contact ARA Locksmith directly.

Locksmith ripoffs: Hidden camera investigation (Marketplace)

Locksmith ripoffs are scams involving fake business listings for cheap locksmith services that, once called out, overcharge the customer. The scam targets people who call a locksmith out of desperation, usually because of being locked out of their car or premises. Locksmith scams have been reported in Canada, the U.S., the U.K., and New Zealand.

The scams work by flooding business-finding services with a multitude of fake business listings. All of the phone numbers of these listings eventually link back to a single operation, usually without a legitimate address or license. The descriptions will be similar to legitimate locksmiths, accompanied by similarly misleading advertising, and usually quoting an unusually low price. The person who turns up may perform shoddy work and then overcharge for the service and parts. Since the customer never knows the real business or people involved, at best they can ask for a single phony listing to be removed – a process that takes time and does not negatively impact the scammer much, as they can simply create more fake listings.

Side effects of the scam include damage to legitimate locksmiths who lose business and tend to get angry calls from people believing them to be responsible. Google Maps has been particularly vulnerable to this operation in the 2020s. It began requiring people advertising locksmith services in the US or Canada to complete its “Advanced Verification” process as of 2018 but does not do so in other markets.