When Sarah locked herself out of her London flat with her three-month-old baby, she did what most people would: she Googled a local locksmith. A sponsored ad for a company boasting "4,500-plus five-star reviews" and prices starting at £45 seemed legitimate. But after the locksmith drilled her lock, changed it, and claimed he'd damaged the internal mechanism, he demanded £2,209. Alone with her infant, she paid. "He probably thought: 'Here’s a mum with a baby in a stressful situation, I could charge what I like,'" she says.
The UK is in the grip of a locksmith scam epidemic. The Master Locksmiths Association (MLA) reports that complaints about rogue locksmiths rose 66% from 2021 to 2025, and the number of reported scams jumped 147% in early 2026 compared to 2025. The most common trick is the "49-er" bait-and-switch: advertise a low price like £49, then charge hundreds or thousands after breaking the lock.
"The industry is unregulated, meaning anybody can call themselves a locksmith, buy tools, and advertise," warns Steffan George, MLA's managing director. Scammers often operate from call centres, listing multiple fake local addresses on Google to appear legitimate. They pay for top ad positions, so a high search ranking "is not an indication of how good a company is, it's an indication of how much money they're spending with Google," George says.
One victim's son was charged £3,300 for a lockout in London. The breakdown included a £280 call-out fee, £229 for access, and wildly inflated parts: £465 for a lock that normally costs £25-70, £420 for a door handle (£30-60), and £800 for an internal mechanism (£40-180). "He more or less just added a zero at the end of everything," says the father, Pat Gilks.
Even tech-savvy people fall for it. One reporter, despite warnings from her mother, called a locksmith with a 4.7-star rating from fewer than 20 reviews. Quoted £45-80, the locksmith later demanded £250, eventually accepting £145 after negotiation. The job also left her door without a lock, forcing her to hire another locksmith.
Sarah, who paid £2,209, says, "It could literally happen to anyone." Google told the Guardian it blocked or removed 602 million scam ads in 2025 and has "strict ads policies." After being contacted, Google removed the ads for the company Sarah used.
To avoid being scammed, experts recommend using a Master Locksmiths Association member, agreeing on a price in writing before work begins, and never paying cash upfront. If something feels off, trust your gut and demand an itemised quote first.