Call(480) 672-3601

Valley guide

How to spot a locksmith scam

The scam has been running for years and the FTC and the Better Business Bureau have both written it up: a bargain figure on the phone, and a bill several times larger once you are back inside. It keeps working because someone standing outside a locked door rarely calls around for a second price. In July 2025, Arizona's Family ran a report on locksmiths accused of overcharging customers who were locked out.

By John Voll · Updated October 29, 2026

Call (480) 672-3601Start a request

A single referral, a named company, a price first. Search it on eCorp · How we are paid

A white front door with a lever lock and a wall light, in morning sun
Ordinary hardware like this can almost always be picked open and then repinned in place. Photo: Josh Lemmon / Unsplash
On this page
  1. What it sounds and looks like
  2. Why the search results are crowded with them
  3. Stopping it in the driveway
  4. Afterward

What it sounds and looks like

It starts on the phone. Whoever answers says "locksmith" and nothing else, no company name. The quote is $15 to $39, which later turns out to be the trip charge alone. The person who arrives drives an unmarked car, looks at an ordinary deadbolt and says it has to be drilled, then offers to sell you a replacement. The price changes in the driveway. They want cash, and the invoice, if there is one, carries no business name.

Why the search results are crowded with them

Map listings for locksmiths have been abused for years with made-up street addresses that forward calls to dispatchers in other states, and the trade press still tracks Google's attempts to clear them out. A pin on the map with an address next to it doesn't prove there is a shop at that address.

Stopping it in the driveway

  1. If the price at the door beats the phone price, refuse before any work begins. You owe, at most, the trip fee you agreed to.
  2. Ask for the company's legal name and run it through the Arizona Corporation Commission's eCorp search on your phone.
  3. Pay with a card, never cash, and insist on an itemized invoice.

Afterward

File a complaint with the Arizona Attorney General (the Attorney General's consumer line, 602-542-5763 in Phoenix), and dispute the charge with your card issuer if the work or price wasn't what you agreed to.

Questions people in Phoenix ask

How do I spot a locksmith scam?

Watch for a phone answered with no company name, a quote that covers only the trip, an unmarked car, an early push to drill, and a price that rises at the door. Any one of them is reason to stop before work begins.

Related pages

Areas: Downtown Phoenix, Midtown and Uptown, Garfield and the Capitol area, Arcadia, Biltmore and Camelback East, North Phoenix and Desert Ridge, Deer Valley and North Gateway, Maryvale, South Phoenix and South Mountain, Ahwatukee, Mesa, Tempe, Scottsdale, Glendale, Chandler, and the rest of Phoenix.

Where the facts come from

  1. FTC Consumer Information: Finding a Locksmith (archived copy, February 2013)
  2. Better Business Bureau: BBB Scam Alert, Locked out? Don't fall for a locksmith scam (July 24, 2020)
  3. Associated Locksmiths of America: How to Spot a Scammer
  4. Locksmith Ledger: Is Google Finally Taking Some Action? (March 21, 2025)
  5. Arizona's Family (InvestigateTV): Predatory locksmiths accused of overcharging customers (July 21, 2025)
  6. Arizona Attorney General: file a consumer complaint
  7. Arizona Corporation Commission: eCorp business entity search