Consumer guide · Sixty seconds
How to avoid a locksmith scam in Los Angeles
This page will cost us business. It tells you how to check any locksmith in about sixty seconds — including us — and some of you will use it and decide to call somebody else. That is a fair trade in a city where this particular fraud is as common as it is here.
Why Los Angeles specifically
The Federal Trade Commission and the California Attorney General have both identified this region as one of the highest-concentration areas for locksmith fraud in the United States. It is not a rumor and it is not competitors talking each other down — it is a documented regulatory concern with a very consistent pattern.
The mechanism, step by step
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The ad promises an impossibly low number
"$19 service call." "$29 and we're on our way." "Lockouts from $15." That figure is not the price of your job. It is a trip charge, and it is frequently non-refundable.
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The company you call is not the company that comes
Many of these ads belong to out-of-state lead-generation firms operating under generic names and toll-free numbers. Your call is sold on to whichever subcontractor takes it. This is the reason nobody can quote you a firm price — the person answering has no idea who will show up.
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An unmarked car arrives, with no license and no uniform
No company name on the vehicle. No identification offered. No license number when you ask. Often no receipt book either.
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Your lock is suddenly "high security"
This is the pivot. Whatever is on your door gets declared special, unusual, or impossible to pick — and therefore in need of drilling. It very rarely is. This claim is the script.
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The drill comes out and the number jumps
Now it is $200, $300 or more, plus replacement hardware you would not have needed. You are standing in a doorway, possibly at night, possibly with children in the car. The pressure is the point.
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Cash only
No card, no invoice, no paper trail, no chargeback. By the time you have thought about it, there is nobody to call back.
The single most useful thing on this page: the lower the advertised price, the higher the risk. In this one trade, a suspiciously cheap number is not a bargain — it is the bait. A real mobile locksmith cannot drive across Los Angeles, open your lock and pay a technician for $29, and none of them are trying to.
The sixty-second check — ask these on the phone
You can do this before anyone is dispatched, and it costs you nothing. Any legitimate company will answer all five without hesitation.
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"What is your California license number?"
California licenses locksmiths through the Bureau of Security & Investigative Services. A real one has a number and will give it to you. Ours is LCO 6801. You can search the state database at search.dca.ca.gov.
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"What is the legal name of your business?"
Evasion here — "we're a locksmith service", "we're local" — is a strong signal you are talking to a call center rather than the business that will arrive.
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"What is the total price, including any after-hours charge?"
Note the word total. If the answer is a service-call fee "and then the technician will assess", you have found the scam. Ask them to commit to a figure for the completed job.
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"Is the technician your employee?"
If the job is being subcontracted to whoever is nearest, the quote you were given is not binding on the person who turns up.
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"Do you take cards?"
Cash-only insistence is a recurring feature of these operations, for the obvious reason. A card payment leaves a record and a route to dispute the charge.
When they arrive
Two more checks, both quick. Is the vehicle marked with a company name? And will they show identification and the license before starting? A legitimate locksmith expects to be asked — we ask you for proof of ownership on every single job, and it would be strange to demand that in one direction only.
And the one that surprises people:
Before you pay anyone, check every other door and window, including the back door and the garage. It sounds too obvious to mention. It works often enough that we tell every caller to try it, even though a found-open door means we do not get the job.
If it is already going wrong at your door
You can refuse. Do not allow work to begin — above all drilling — at a price you have not agreed to. Ask for the license number and a written quote before any tool comes out. If they will not provide them, tell them to leave. If you feel unsafe, call the police. You are not obliged to pay for work you never authorized, and someone who becomes aggressive when you push back is telling you precisely what they are.
Afterwards, it is worth reporting: the California Bureau of Security & Investigative Services handles licensing complaints, and the FTC collects reports on exactly this pattern.
Hold us to the same standard
Everything above, applied to this company. Look the number up before you call us — we would genuinely rather you did.
License number
LCO 6801 — a locksmith company license, status current, valid through 31 March 2028. Registered as LOS ANGELES LOCKSMITH ME. Look it up before you call us.
A local number
(323) 443-7828 — a 323 line, not a toll-free number routed to a call center.
A firm total, before we drive
Quoted on the call with the surcharge included, and it is what lands on the invoice. How that works.
Drilling last, not first
Non-destructive opening wherever it is possible. Drilling is a last resort and we tell you before it happens.
Questions about locksmith fraud
Is the $29 service call ever legitimate?
Effectively never for a mobile locksmith. Consider the arithmetic: that figure has to cover a van, fuel across Los Angeles, tools, insurance and a technician's time. It does not come close. The number exists to win the click and get a technician to your door, where the real price is revealed and you have no leverage. Legitimate lockout work costs meaningfully more than that, and any locksmith worth calling will tell you the real figure on the phone rather than at your door.
How do I check a California locksmith license?
California requires locksmiths to be licensed by the Bureau of Security & Investigative Services, and the license number must be given to you on request. You can search the state license database at search.dca.ca.gov. Ours is LCO 6801 — look it up before you call us if you like. Any company that gets evasive when you ask for a number has answered the question.
They are already at my door and the price just tripled. What now?
You are allowed to say no. Do not let anyone begin work — particularly drilling — at a price you have not agreed to. Ask for the license number and a written quote before a single tool comes out. If they refuse, tell them to leave. If you feel unsafe, call the police. You are not obliged to pay for work you did not authorize, and a technician who becomes aggressive about it is confirming exactly what you suspected.
Why is drilling such a warning sign?
Because most locks can be opened without damage by someone who knows what they are doing, and drilling means you now have to buy replacement hardware on top of the service. It converts a smaller job into a bigger bill. A skilled locksmith reaches for the drill as a last resort. If someone pulls one out within the first minute of arriving, they are either not skilled or not honest.
Is a national brand name safer than a local one?
Often the reverse. A large share of the operations regulators have warned about are lead-generation companies with generic national-sounding names and toll-free numbers, which sell your call on to whichever subcontractor bids for it. The company you phoned and the person at your door are not the same business, which is precisely why nobody can give you a firm price up front.
Right now, at any hour
Ask us all five questions
Genuinely — call and run the checklist on us before you book anything. Any company that minds you asking has just answered the most important question.