What you don’t want to find on a call to pick open a trunk lock.

            When you go out on a service call to open a lock for someone, you hope to get out to the location, open the lock and be on your way. But in life, you can’t always tell what is in store for you. This was the case for an Alabama locksmith who went out on a job to open up a locked trunk. Upon opening the trunk the body of a missing woman, which owned the car, was discovered after being missing for over a year.

            This is an odd story, as the family of the missing woman requested to get the trunk open after a whole year had gone by. And more surprising is that the investigators who originally searched the house, never thought to check the trunk of the woman’s car, simply because they didn’t have the keys to the car.

            This article I came by is brief, so there is probably a lot of the back story got left out. It just seems odd that it would take the family well over a year to do anything with their missing relative’s car.

Read the story here: http://www.myfoxal.com/Global/story.asp?S=12298963

Door to Door Locksmith Scam

I came across a story about this man from Canada who was finally arrested on fraud charges, from multiple reports of this guy going door to door asking for money to hire a locksmith. He claimed that he had been locked out of his house and needed money to hire a locksmith to get into his house. He promised to pay back the money to those home owners that actually gave him money, but naturally he never returned to pay them back. The police reports listed that he had visited dozens of homes.

Is this a step up from asking for money on the street corner? You rarely know anymore if that person on the corner is really in need, or just trying to hustle you. There is a good number of people that make a living off of begging for money, even though they are not homeless and some rather well off.  This ruins things for the true homeless, destitute, and others who really need a helping hand.

Returning to the Canadian story, I am curious to the amount of donations he got from the folks he visited. The fraud claim against him is for counts under $5000, but I am still curious about the actual amount. Generosity can vary from person to person. Some people give and others do not. To get any money out of people, I would assume that he has a pretty convincing character.

Locksmith Saves Kid from Arcade Claw Machine

On March 1^st, at a restaurant in Perth, Australia, a small boy climbed up inside of a candy giving arcade game and became stuck inside. Upon seeing the boy’s predicament, his mother and restaurant staff to leap into action to get the two year old boy out.

After not being able to find the key for that particular machine, the restaurant owner had to call the local locksmith.

Upon arriving, the locksmith determined that he needed some additional tools to get the lock open. So after a quick trip back to his shop, the locksmith opened up the lock and saved the day. Mother and son were reunited and they all lived happily ever after. Except for the claw machine, that was promptly removed after the incident.

So hopefully this will be a live and learn experience for all parties that were involved, and everyone reading this story. The little boy will now know not to climb into claws machines. And that if you are the owner of a restaurant or arcade, make sure that you have keys to all of the machines you have on the premises.

See the full story and pictures here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1257423/Sweet-toothed-toddler-climbs-INSIDE-lolly-machine-guzzle-sweets--gets-trapped-inside.html

Tips for Preventing Home Robberies

While having good locks is an important first step to protecting your home, there are other precautions one should take in hopes of avoiding a home robbery.

1. Lighthing—Having a porch light by your door on at night is a great deterrent. Thieves are usually afraid of being seen. To go a step further, motion sensing lights are an excellent choice to light up your drive way or yard when something crosses the sensors path. If you will not be home to turn on the lights, consider adding a timer. The timer will turn on the lights at set times and give the appearance of someone being home.
2. Cameras—Normally thought of as just being for businesses, security cameras are now more affordable for the home consumers. Video evidence is great to have for any legal actions that can follow a break in. Decoy cameras are a cheaper alternative. Even though they produce no video, they act as a deterrent and make criminals think twice.
3. Yards—Keep your yard neat and tidy. Trim your plants and bushes so that they will not provide a hiding place for potential intruders.
4. Fencing & Gates—While not always an inviting appearance, their function is to help keep unwanted guests out. Having high fencing and secure gates can add another layer of complexity for a burglar to have to work around.
5. Window Locks—Windows are one of the most often utilized points of entry to your home. If you have low easily accessible windows, use the locks that came with the window. Furthermore invest in some screw locks, bars, or other devices that prevent the window from opening.

Most importantly of all, utilize all of the locks on your house and surrounding yard. If your gate locks, lock it up at night. Make sure all of the doors to your house are locked up before you go to bed. Secure all of your windows, pet doors, and other points of entry.

Electronic Key Impressioner in Development

Created by Steve Randall and Ted Schwarzkopf, this device is designed to scan the inside of a car lock and return the code to the operator of the device. Retrieving the code must be done through an internet connection through the USB port on the Key Impressioner. The device is still in development and said to only work on Ford cars for the time being.

When and if released, the device will be for sale to licensed locksmiths. But this doesn’t mean those shady car thieves won’t get their hands on them as well. The idea for security is that since the devices have to be connected to the internet to receive key cut codes, only properly registered devices will be allowed to function. And unlicensed machines will be remotely shut down. This is all just their brainstorming at the moment, so we shall see when this device reaches the market.

With all of the various secondary security features on cars, having a key always isn’t enough anymore. There is the use of alarms, keypad codes, transponders, and other such devices.

Adding A Lock To Your Desk Drawer

One of the most secure ways to protect are valuable items is to lock them up. What better way to lock something up than with a lock? A desk can be a place where you store precious business data, personal files, or even other valuable. For this reason, some of those desk drawers should be able to be locked. Most desks usually come with one locking drawer, but maybe yours did not, or you want more locks installed. In either case, here are some tips to get you started.

1. The first step is measuring the drawer you want to install the lock on. You do not want the lock to be too long or too short. Once you have a lock of the right thickness, you will want to measure the base of the unit with the desk drawer.
2. Once you have your measurement for the base of the lock, you can determine where the hole for the lock cylinder will be drilled. Using a wood drill, slowly bore your hole in the drawer. When you have the proper hole, insert your lock and screw it into place.
3. Depending on your setup, you may also need to bore out a little hole for the locking bar to fit into.

This is just a general scenario; your setup may be quite different. There are a few different kinds of desk locks. The steps above are for the usual standard desk lock. If you are unsure about installing a lock, contact a locksmith.

A Look At The Biometric Deadbolt

The future is now or almost here. Yes it is a little cliché. The locks that operated on retina scans and fingerprints that we always saw in movies are getting closer and closer to public use. In this case the fingerprint scanner. The quality and accuracy of each of these locks most likely varies with the price of the fixture. The biometric deadbolt available from various lock companies range from the moderately priced to the expensive. And as the saying goes, “You get what you pay for.”

The lock units are still not biometric alone, most still use standard keys as a backup system. While others also include a numbered keypad for a code system. The flaw in keypads and biometric scanners is that they run on batteries, so if the battery dies then you are stuck. That is the reasoning for the inclusion of a keyed lock. The batteries are replaceable, but are still a drawback. The highlight of the systems is the number of fingerprints you can store on the unit and the specialized uses of them. You can set fingerprints for your family that have unlimited access, you can set more limited access for service workers that come by every other day, or you can even set a one time access for a technician or whomever needs to work in your home.

There are still potential security problems. Many of the units include a keyed lock, which can be picked. And there is still the fact that someone just needs your finger to gain access to your home and family.

This is a video showing the biometric deadbolt.

Are Your Customers Trying to Fool You?

Stories of locksmith scam artist are still floating around the Internet and sometimes the news. But you never hear about any stories where the circumstances have been reversed. Are there scam artist or other criminals out to trick a locksmith in letting them into somewhere they should not be?

Some possible scenarios:

Scene 1—You are on route to a car lockout call. Upon arriving to the location, you see someone standing next to the car, but is it really their car? How can you check? Do you have DMV record access? Their Drivers License doesn’t say if they own any cars. I guess if they can produce an insurance document. Would that mean an uninsured driver is out of luck, for a locksmith’s help? What if this person was just a random passerby, who saw a set of keys locked inside of a car? And if a locksmith does mistakenly open the door to someone who isn’t the cars owner, is the locksmith liable for just doing his job and responding to the call?

Scene 2—In a similar fashion, our locksmith receives a house lockout call. Now in this case, the person who places the call should have the address on their I.D. or Drivers License. You never hear about any customer verification done by locksmith companies. Perhaps it is the ex-spouse or ex-girlfriend or boyfriend, and they once lived there, the correct address is on their I.D. Is it against the locksmith, if he unknowingly lets them into the house without knowing their true intentions.

Though these examples are the extreme cases of unfortunate events, which is not to say that they will never happen. Does any blame fall onto the locksmith for assisting these criminals? Should a locksmith follow their instinct or just do the job they were called for?

Getting Through a Locked Door With a Credit Card.

From my postings in the past, one may see that I like to go back and look at the lock picking methods highlighted by cinema and television. One of the popular ones back from the 1980s was that of picking open a locked door with a credit card. You know when the private eye needed to get into the suspect’s locked office. He needed nothing but to wiggle a credit card near the door lock and simply pop the door open.

The idea is that you can take any thin plastic card you have, and insert it in between the doorframe and the door where the lock latches. The card can be anything from a credit card to a library card. Ultimately you want to use the card to work down the latch of the lock, so that the door will release. The position the latch is facing will also determine how hard it will be to open the lock this way. If the slanted side of the latch is towards you, it will be a much easier time than if the latch is away from you. You can use your body to put some pressure on the door to aide in the process. By wiggling the card around, you can eventually move the latch down far enough to open the lock. To prevent this method, many doors have wood trim around the doorframe, blocking access to the latch. If this is the case, you may need to employ a different method or remove the trim. Though ruining the trim may not be worth it. And on another side note, this lock picking methods is only intended for spring loaded doorknob locks. It will not work on deadbolts.

And as always, here is a word to the wise. Only attempt to open locks that you personally own and have permission to try and pick. Attempting to pick open locks you do not own is a crime, even if you have no intent of stealing.

The Usual Events In Which You Would Want to Find a Locksmith Service.

Life is full of unexpected events that can cause problems to your day. A variety of those problems arise from items we use daily such as cars, houses, and many items that use locks. When problems relating to locks arise, your best bet may be to call a locksmith. Here are some general events in which you would employ a locksmith’s services:

• You have locked you keys inside of your car and have therefore locked yourself out.
• You ran out of your house in a hurry with a locked door, but forgot your keys inside.
• Your keys have been lost or misplaced somewhere.
• The key broke off in the lock while you attempted to open it.
• You need to get your locks re-keyed or replaced.
• You want to install a deadbolt lock.
• There is a broken lock you need fixed or replaces.
• You need get an extra set of house keys or car keys made.
• There is an old safe you need opened, and the combination is long lost.
• There is a desk or file cabinet lock you need picked open.
• You have a padlock you need opened.
• You run an apartment building and need some mailbox locks installed.
• Your company needs a master door system installed.
• Your office needs a door buzzer entry system.
• Your business needs to install a keyless door entry system.
• You need a video camera system on your property.

Keep a list of the locksmiths in your area. At some point in time you may need their services. It is also a good idea to do some research on the local companies and find out about them before you need them.