How-to · Updated 2026

How to Find a Trustworthy Locksmith

The cheap locksmith you found on Google may not exist as a local business at all. A common scam works like this: a fake local-looking listing routes your call to an out-of-state center, a dispatcher quotes you $35 to $90 over the phone, and a subcontractor in an unmarked car shows up and hands you a bill for $300 or more once you're standing in your driveway with a half-disassembled lock. It works because it's built for the exact moment you're locked out, in a hurry, and in no position to negotiate. Here's how the scam runs, how to price-check any quote against real numbers, and how to find someone who won't do this to you.

How the scam works

It runs on volume, not skill. Scammers flood Google Maps and search results with dozens of fake local listings using different phone numbers and made-up addresses, so a search for "locksmith near me" surfaces mostly call centers instead of real local shops. Google and the locksmith trade have fought this for years, and it still works often enough to keep going.

Call one of these numbers and you'll usually hear a generic "Hello, locksmith services" instead of a business name. That's a tell by itself — a real local shop answers with its name. The person on the phone is a dispatcher, not a locksmith, and their job is to quote a low price, often $35 to $90, to get you to commit.

The person who shows up is a subcontractor, sometimes driving an unmarked personal car, who may have nothing to do with the company you thought you called and often doesn't even know the price you were quoted. Once they're at your door, the price moves. A common tactic is declaring your lock "high-security" or claiming a key is broken off inside, so the whole cylinder "must" be drilled and replaced — even when a skilled locksmith could open it undamaged. Drilling is rarely necessary and is the easiest way to turn a $75 job into a several-hundred-dollar one. Many of these operators also take cash only, which is deliberate: a cash payment can't be reversed with a card dispute the way an inflated charge can.

• Minnesota: a woman locked out of her car was quoted $95. When she asked the technician to check whether her key was actually inside before he did anything, he refused, said he was required to cut a new key, and charged her $260. Her key had been in the car the entire time. (Minnesota Attorney General's Office)
• A 2025 InvestigateTV nationwide investigation found a 70-year-old man locked out of his house was billed $1,217.29 for two locks — nearly $400 each, including one he says he never needed — with no business name or phone number on the receipt to trace afterward. A former dispatcher for one of these operations told investigators he was instructed to pretend to be whichever company the customer thought they'd called and to charge as much as possible.

The price test: compare any quote to these real numbers

Before you agree to anything, run the number you were quoted against verified, current price ranges rather than whatever a dispatcher offers to get you to say yes. These come from our own sourced cost research, not a competitor's marketing copy.

• Any locksmith job overall: $75–$400, typically around $163.
• A standard car lockout: $50–$300, typically about $100 — that includes a $25–$75 trip or service-call fee plus the work itself.
• A lock rekey: $50–$200, typically about $120 — a $50–$100 service-call fee plus roughly $15–$40 per cylinder.
• Full car key replacement, cut and programmed: $50–$900, typically around $250, depending on whether it's a basic mechanical key or a proximity smart key.
• Key fob programming alone: $50–$600, typically about $150.

10 red flags

• The number is an 800 or toll-free line, not a local one, even though the ad says "local."
• They answer with a generic "Hello, locksmith services" instead of stating a business name.
• They won't give you a firm price or range over the phone — only "it depends, we'll see when we get there."
• The technician arrives in an unmarked personal vehicle with no company name or logo.
• They can't or won't show a photo ID, and in a licensing state, a state locksmith license card.
• The name on the van, invoice, or ID doesn't match the company you actually called.
• They push straight to drilling the lock instead of attempting to pick or bypass it first.
• They'll only accept cash.
• They refuse to give you a written, itemized estimate before starting work.
• They don't ask you to verify you own the property or vehicle before starting.

Verify before they arrive

Ask three questions before you hang up, and actually listen to how they answer.

Don't wait alone

This part doesn't show up in most locksmith-scam guides, but it matters. If you're locked out alone at night, especially in a parking lot or garage, have a friend or family member meet you there. The bait-and-switch scam runs on isolation and urgency — it works far better on someone standing alone in the dark with no easy way to leave than on two people who can simply walk away.

Wait somewhere lit and populated until the locksmith arrives, not alone in a dark corner of a lot. If the price balloons once the technician is on scene, a friend can drive you home while you sort it out later, instead of feeling stuck paying because you have no other way home.

Check the state license before you call

Most states don't license locksmiths at all — no exam, no background check, and no state agency that can pull a license for bad behavior — which is part of why this scam is so hard to stop nationally. A 2025 InvestigateTV investigation counted only 13 states that require a locksmith license. The trend has also moved the other way recently: Tennessee repealed its locksmith licensing law in 2021, Nebraska repealed its locksmith registration law the same year, and Florida has no statewide locksmith license.

In the states below, you can look up a locksmith's license directly and for free before you let them near your door. If your state isn't on this list, it most likely doesn't license locksmiths at all, and a license claim can't be verified — so weigh the red-flag checklist above even more heavily.

• Alabama — Electronic Security Board of Licensure (AESBL) licensee lookup
• California — Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS) license verification
• Connecticut — eLicense license lookup
• Illinois — Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR)
• Louisiana — Office of State Fire Marshal locksmith licensing
• Maryland — Department of Labor Locksmith Licensing Program
• New Jersey — Division of Consumer Affairs (mylicense) verification
• North Carolina — Locksmith Licensing Board license verification
• Oklahoma — Department of Labor license verification (not CLEET)
• Oregon — Construction Contractors Board, Oregon Certified Locksmith search (not DPSST)
• Texas — Department of Public Safety, Texas Online Private Security (TOPS)
• Virginia — Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) verification

When they arrive

Match the name on their ID and invoice to the company you actually called. Ask to see photo ID and, in a licensing state, a state license card — legitimate locksmiths carry these routinely, so it isn't an unusual request. Get an itemized, written estimate before any work starts, not a verbal number, and don't let "we already started" push you past that step. Pay by card rather than cash, so you have a paper trail and recourse if the final number is wrong.

California's Department of Consumer Affairs puts it bluntly: if a locksmith threatens you or insists on charging you just for showing up, call the police, not the number on the invoice.

If you've already been scammed

You have more recourse than it feels like in the moment, and the fastest path is a credit card dispute. Under the Fair Credit Billing Act, you have 60 days from the statement date to dispute a billing error in writing with your card issuer, and you don't have to pay the disputed amount while it's investigated. This is the step most likely to actually get your money back — everything else below raises awareness and helps other people, but it will not refund you.

After that, report it in three places: reportfraud.ftc.gov, the FTC's official fraud-reporting site; your state Attorney General's consumer-complaint page; and BBB Scam Tracker, which publishes reports to warn other people who search the same fake listing. If the scam came from a fake Google Maps listing, report that listing directly to Google so it can be taken down.

What we recommend

Avoid the emergency call

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Spare car key

Lucky Line Extra Large Magnetic Key Hider (91201)

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A spare car key hidden magnetically on the vehicle, for the day the keys get locked inside.

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