Deaf mum exploited by locksmith

[DanikaHill]

Hello mums, lurker here, finally joing Mumsnet although for a reason I'm not thrilled by... Hopefully somebody can help me.

Today my deaf mum was locked out of her house so after googling Fast Locksmith London my mum clicked on this company that sent a man around to her address (her neighbour rang the number)... Turns out it's a scam.

After changing the lock the man told her hearing neighbour he would charge my mum £300, but ended up charging her £855.

The 'invoice' was a piece of paper with no VAT number (although VAT was charged) and a logo for a totally different company.

When I found out I called the guy who changed the lock (he left his number on the piece of paper) but but he said he didn't remember and to call the head office. I rang the 'office', a guy picked up saying this was a hotline not the head office, and that he couldn't give me the head office number and he couldn't help, and that I was inconveniencing him! I'll try calling them again tomorrow but something is very wrong here.

How these people can happily rip off a elderly deaf lady living alone is beyond me. It's so upsetting.

Does anyone have some advice for what my options are at this point?

She paid by debit so I don't think the bank can cancel the payment now.

What's more I was with her yesterday... If only this had happened when I was there... She's devastated but was afraid to not pay this man.

I saw an article about this sort of scam on TV a while back, they pointed out that when people are in a panic they tend to Google and then pick the first company on the list, which of course are the ones who pay to be there, and sadly often tend to be scammers. It was recommended, that everyone watching, took the time that day, to look up a proper local locksmith, or ask for local recommendations, and then put the number in their phone, so that when and if it were to happen to you, you could just call, and feel confident you were getting someone who wasn't a scammer.

Are you serious?

Or are you the locksmith?

Hi everyone. Thank you all so much for all your comments, advice and links, it's been a huge help.

So the bank told us that because she signed the piece of paper with £855 written on it there's not much they can do (despite the fact this is an elderly deaf lady who lives alone being told by a large man to sign a piece of paper and give him money)

I filed a report on ActionFraud and will soon contact the Master Locksmith Association.

I called the number on the website and said I would report them to the police. They said the manager would call me in a minute. The manager called me, would not give his name, confirm the company name, give a VAT number, nothing. He said they opened the door for her and could charge whatever price they wanted.

The company address is registered to a house split into flats in north London and the address on the website is another one (so the number of the address is there but not the flat, eg: 7 instead of 7A or 7D) so I dont have a full address, the full name of the locksmith or the full name of the man claiming to be the manager speaking to me on the phone. I do however have the full name of the man the company is registered to so I will see what I can do with that...

I'm not going to let this go because they will continue to fleece people. Doing this to my deaf mum has made this personal and I'm angry now more than upset.

Exactly what I was thinking. Sometimes I think people forget how recognisable their usernames are

My mum was ripped off last year and I was genuinely furious. We did get her money back but trading standards ect were a bit useless, so I basically plastered his face everywhere online (local fb, watssapp, ect). It probably did amount to an online harassment campaign if I am completely honest but I don’t care, she’s my mum.

Try trading standards ect first, and if you do end up going down the name and shame route, mention that you have done that in your posts. When we posted the guy, several others came forward and it turns out he had changed his business name to avoid all the bad reviews.

Also, reassure your mum that it wasn’t her fault it was him. My mum’s confidence was actually pretty knocked and she kept saying she was stupid and old. Seeing her like that made me want to hunt that man through the woods for sport, but I didn’t think I could get away with that.

It would be a great sport I have to say. Worthy of the Olympics.

I have also resorted to naming and shaming. It's just the beginning... (and yes the man has several other company names in his past that he's been switching up rather like yours did). When it's your mum it hurts different.

It's free and easy to set up

Why would you want to give a complete crook your account details, when he already knows your name, address and phone number?

Contact the police, and maybe aged concern.
It sounds like organized extortion/crime.

Suggest your DM gets a couple of spare keys cut