Call a locksmith, get a con artist!

Okay, so you need a local locksmith. Quick!

Using your phone directory or a city internet search, what’s the chances of you unintentionally calling a scam artist, an out-of-state company posing as a local locksmith or a pedophile in business for him-or-herself rather than finding a registered locksmith?

Don’t know? Well, let’s try my city – Altamonte Springs, FL – a city of approximately 40,000 people.

Monica McConaghy, the Business Tax Administrator of Altamonte Springs, printed off a list of just 4 registered locksmiths – that’s F-O-U-R. She said occupational licenses are now called business tax registrations. Of the four locksmiths, one has a storefront and the other three are mobile - one of which is our company, Martin Security Group, Inc. AKA www.a-florida-locksmith.com

Three different LOCAL phone books, however, say something else. According to them, there are 57 individually-named locksmiths in Altamonte. You have to search among 1791 listings to find them all. (Yes, I did count every single one of them.)

As far as internet search results for Altamonte locksmiths go – well, I quit counting at 377 (out of thousands). With all the map spam, blog spam and fake ads (with none-existence addresses) by out-of-state companies posing as locals as well as Florida locksmiths using multiple names, it was time-consuming trying to find those four Altamonte locksmiths in a city search. The search term I used was - Locksmith Altamonte Springs, Fl.

The fact that I knew exactly who I was looking for should have made it easy, but I only found two. Our family's website (www.a-florida-locksmith.com) and free classified ads were listed on the first two Google search pages as was a link for one other registered-in-Altamonte-locksmith, Liberty Locksmiths.

But Google’s first 2 pages also included listings or ads for 47 other locksmiths all claiming to be Altamonte locksmiths. No wonder people are confused.

Many of the listings/ads are either directories or bogus call-center listings with local or 800 numbers. Clicking on the directories gets you nowhere since, again, mostly what is listed are all the bogus call-center listings.

All four Altamonte businesses are registered with the state and when they registered with the City of Altamonte Springs, they were automatically registered with Seminole County. Locksmiths who take the time to legally register are usually people who have invested time in training as well as money in equipment, supplies and vehicles. They work hard to provide good service and want repeat business. They are not going to scam you.

Legitimate locksmiths, whether they have a storefront or are just mobile, generally work within a 50-mile radius of their base. This usually encompasses 2 or more counties and listing every city or community they work in on their website is normal and expected. However, if you see a website that lists every city in the state, you should be suspicious.

So what are your chances of getting scammed or someone disreputable having the keys to your home, business or vehicle? Pretty high, I believe.