Sarah was alone in her flat with her three-month-old baby when a man put a card machine in her face and demanded she pay £2,209. A few hours earlier, she had left her keys at home during a walk. Desperate to get back in, she searched Google for a nearby locksmith and found a sponsored company advertising prices starting at £45, claiming 4,500-plus five-star reviews. When the locksmith arrived, he told her the lock was high-security and drilled it open, then claimed he had damaged the internal mechanism. After she paid the inflated sum, she realized she had been scammed. 'He probably thought: Here's a mum with a baby in a stressful situation, I could charge what I like,' she said.
The epidemic of locksmith scams
According to the Master Locksmiths Association (MLA), the number of scams reported rose by 147% between January and March 2026 compared with the same period in 2025. Complaints related to rogue locksmiths rose 66% from 2021 to 2025. The main scam is the '49-er,' a bait-and-switch where a locksmith advertises a low price but charges hundreds or thousands after arriving. 'We have seen some very frightening amounts,' said Steffan George, managing director of the MLA. The industry is unregulated, meaning 'anybody can call themselves a locksmith, buy locksmith tools and advertise their services.'
How Google fuels the problem
Scammers often operate from large call centres, listing themselves as local firms on Google to appear in top search results. Paying for Google Ads can place them above organic results. Google said it blocked or removed 602 million scam ads in 2025, but the website Sarah used had 21 sponsored ads. After the Guardian contacted Google, those ads were removed for policy violations. 'A search engine result for a locksmith is not an indication of how good a company is, it's an indication of how much money they're spending with Google,' George said.
Victims left with huge bills
Pat Gilks, 60, received a call from his son who had locked himself out of the family home in London and called a locksmith found on Google. The total bill was £3,300. A legitimate locksmith later said he would have charged about £190 to £240. The breakdown included a £280 emergency call-out fee, £229 for access, £465 for a 'high-security lock,' £420 for a door handle, £800 for an internal mechanism, £630 labour, and £568 VAT. 'He more or less just added a zero at the end of everything,' Gilks said.
Little recourse for victims
Victims often have no formal recourse. When Sarah complained, the company said, 'We don't care about your complaint,' before hanging up. The Department for Business and Trade advises contacting Citizens Advice, which can refer complaints to Trading Standards. George noted that many victims accept the loss due to fear of reprisals, as scammers know where they live. The MLA says it is illegal for locksmiths to be checked by standard-level DBS assessments, which are reserved for security, veterinary, law, and child-related roles. 'It makes absolutely no sense,' George said.
What can consumers do?
Google has banned locksmith advertising in Germany, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, and Spain to reduce fraud. In the US and Canada, locksmiths must be verified to advertise. The UK government is examining how other countries have clamped down. The MLA has launched a parliamentary petition to require search engines to verify emergency trade advertisers. Legitimate locksmith Kumas Naroei advises customers to ask for ID and the company name when a locksmith arrives. 'I put them under pressure. I don't like people taking advantage of vulnerable customers,' he said.
