Can a locksmith steal my car?
Can a locksmith steal my car?
Yes. But don’t worry too much. A lot of people are surprised to hear this. When a person loses all the keys to their car and a locksmith comes to unlock it and make new keys/make a remote – they are doing all the same steps they would take to steal the car. It’s just that the owner of the vehicle is there and it’s an authorized and legal service. Security and ant-theft devices on a car make it more difficult for criminals to steal cars but they don’t make it impossible. It’s the locksmith’s job to bypass these security measures and make working keys/remotes for the vehicle.
Why don’t locksmiths steal cars?
Because it’s illegal, not nice, and an overall not smart thing to do. Firstly, stealing cars is very illegal. There are long prison terms. There are also a number of features cars possess that make the likelihood of getting away with it very slim. All cars have a VIN number that is used to trace the car and record important details like accidents and sales. Additionally, cars require a title in order to get plates and licenses. So anything driving a stolen car will probably get caught pretty soon. Secondly, I’d like to believe that most locksmiths are more honest than turning into petty criminals. Lastly, if you get caught stealing a car it’s highly unlikely you’d ever work on the locksmith industry again. Locksmiths can make car keys without an owner present. They do it frequently for car lots, car reposessers, and buy here pay here lots. Locksmiths have ways of verifying ownership and being compliant with local and state laws.
How Does a Locksmith Know it’s My Car?
This is an excellent questions. The exact details and information that is required may vary by state and local laws. The locksmith will required to follow those. As a rule of thumb, recording an ID, taking a picture of the license plate, recording the VIN number, and viewing the title to the car are good practices. In reality, these may not be readily available, especially in a lockout situation where the person might not have access to all of those things before the job is completed. Most locksmiths get a good sense for people and can determine if the person sounds legitimate and that their story checks out.
It would be a very odd crime to pay a locksmith to commit a crime for you. Firstly, there would be a documented call and possibly even a phone recording. Locksmiths generally take good documentation and pictures during jobs creating more evidence. Lastly, if the person paid with a card they would have another piece of evidence linking them to the crime. Even if they paid with cash, the locksmith would generate a receipt for the transaction, creating yet another piece of evidence. Lastly, the locksmith would be a witness to the person at the vehicle and would be able to identify the persona and testify against them in court. Given all of this, it would be very unlikely for someone to use a locksmith to steal a car.
