Quick answer
Most locksmith scams in San Diego follow one pattern: a national call center advertises a very low price, dispatches an unlicensed subcontractor in an unmarked car, the technician drills a lock that could have been picked, and the bill is several times the quote. Protect yourself by using a locksmith with a local number and a California LCO license, getting the total price on the phone, expecting an ID check, and refusing drilling on a standard lock. Report problems to the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services. Action Locksmith San Diego is LCO #7199, based in Ocean Beach.
In this guide
How the scam works
You search "locksmith near me" at midnight. The top result has a local-looking name and a $15 or $29 service call. You call, a dispatcher somewhere out of state says someone is 20 minutes away, and eventually a technician arrives in an unmarked car. He looks at a normal front-door lock, says it can't be picked, drills it, installs a cheap replacement and hands you a bill for $300, $500 or more. The $15 was the service call. Everything else was "labor and parts." You're locked out, tired and standing in the dark, so you pay.
It works because lockouts remove all the normal conditions for shopping around. The defense is to move the checks to the phone call, before anyone drives out.
The seven warning signs
- An advertised price under $50. Nobody dispatches a licensed locksmith and a stocked van for $15. The real price is coming later.
- No local address or neighborhood on the website, or a name that's just "San Diego Locksmith" with a toll-free number.
- The dispatcher can't tell you the company's California license number.
- The technician arrives in an unmarked vehicle with no company name, no uniform and no ID.
- Drilling is the first suggestion for a normal residential lock. Nearly all can be picked or bypassed.
- The price changes on arrival, or you're told the quote didn't include "labor."
- Cash only, pressure to pay before the work is done, or a refusal to give an itemized invoice.
What a legitimate lockout call looks like
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1
On the phone
You get a total price including the service call, an arrival window based on where you actually are in San Diego, and the license number if you ask. Ours is LCO #7199.
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2
At the door
A marked vehicle, a technician with ID who asks to see yours, and a lock opened by picking or bypass. Drilling only for broken or high-security locks, explained first, with the lock replaced the same visit.
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3
After
An invoice matching the phone quote. Ours are paid when you're back inside and satisfied.
If you've already been scammed
- Keep everything: the ad, the invoice, texts, photos of the drilled lock and the replacement.
- Dispute the charge with your card issuer if you paid by card.
- File a complaint with the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services through the California Department of Consumer Affairs. Unlicensed locksmithing is a violation and they act on complaints.
- Have a licensed locksmith inspect the replacement lock. Scam replacements are often the cheapest hardware available and sometimes installed wrong.
Save a number before you need it
The single best defense is to have a locksmith's number in your phone before the night you're locked out. Verify one now, while you're calm, using our license verification guide, and you'll never have to trust a search result at midnight again. Ours is (619) 304-9446, answered from Ocean Beach.
Written by Mark Hanna, owner and lead locksmith of Action Locksmith San Diego (CA LCO License #7199). Published , last updated . Prices mentioned are typical San Diego ranges; see the prices page for details.
