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The Master Locksmiths Association says the scammers lure in customers who have locked themselves out with cheap call-out fees before slapping them with $1000-plus bills.
The customers are then refused entry to the house until they pay, association president Martin Coote said.
Coote said the fake workers are not qualified locksmiths and often smash the lock and surrounding doors to intimidate their victims.
The scam has mainly been reported in Christchurch, Auckland, and Wellington. It was also prevalent in Austrialia.
“When you do an online search for a locksmith, you’ll see paid ads for so-called emergency or 24/7 locksmiths, but some of these are scammers,” Coote said.
“While legitimate locksmiths do emergency call-out work, they don’t sit in cars on the street waiting for the phone to ring, so be very careful when the ad focuses on 24/7 emergencies and quotes low prices.”
One victim said she locked herself out of her house and was charged an exorbitant $954 to get back inside.
It is not the first time the scams have been reported in Christchurch. In November 2022 Ross Galt Lock & Alarm Ltd told chrislynchmedia.com they had noticed a rise in jobs caused by "a scam locksmith outlet showing up as the top result on Google".
At the time a service appeared as a top search result on Google Ads during a particular time of the day, advertising fast and cheap service for $35 to lure people away from legitimate locksmiths.
When chrislynchmedia.com phoned the company, a man who wouldn’t give his name said the company was "based everywhere".
Coote said the scammers mainly used unmarked vehicles and had no uniform.
Police said they were not aware of any incidents but encouraged anyone looking for a locksmith to make sure it is a legitimate business.
-APL
