Comments on: Locksmiths flock to Google Maps forum demanding solution

By: Tania J.

Tania J. — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 07:17:25 +0000

Regarding the post just above mine, comment 27 by JDandy. You might have the big answer I’m looking for regarding my San Diego experience. Most of the sites I’ve identified as fraudulent are listed at the bottom as belonging to an “AD San Diego Locksmith,” sometimes just listed as “San Diego Locksmith,” but usually the “Ad” is at the bottom of the page. I’m wondering if the “AD” connects to “El-Ad” group as you’ve referenced.

By: Tania J.

Tania J. — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 07:11:58 +0000

I think this is a nationwide scam. I got locked out of my house tonight and Googled “San Diego Locksmith” and picked the one that said they were licensed and insured and that advertised the fastest arrival time. The one I picked was called San Diego Locksmith and Emergency Lockout Service. They quoted me $39 over the phone, and charged me $204 for the job. I am furious. So I did some digging and found something revealing: almost that whole first page of Google listings–which appear to be different companies with different web addresses, phone numbers, and listed postal addresses–actually belong to this same company. They’re under at least a dozen names, probably more, just in San Diego alone. And I’m hearing of this scam in other major cities, though I’m not sure if the master company overseeing all of this is one entity or multiple corporations. One consistent feature is the multiple company names and web listings, and the huge discrepancy between the quote over the phone and the charged price for service. What can one do about this? It’s a massive scam, and the people who are trying to report it don’t realize that the name of the company they’re trying to report is fake and irrelevant. Oh and the worst part? When you Google “San Diego Locksmith Fraud” the first listings are this fraudulent company’s “information” pages! No joke!

By: JDandy

JDandy — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 09:41:04 +0000

Locksmith money trail leads here.

El-Ad Group, (El Ad US Holding, Inc.) is a real estate development conglomerate based in Israel. Among its subsidiaries is New York City-based Elad Properties, which owns several landmark properties in that city and in May 2007 purchased the New Frontier Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada for a record $1.2 billion. The ElAd Group is a subsidiary of Delek Group, owned by Yitzhak Tshuva, a self-made businessman with assets around $4 billion.

By: Mike Porter

Mike Porter — Fri, 20 May 2011 14:02:08 +0000

I Have know clue they allso took my yahoo listing i call yahoo and they just hung up on me i wish i know how they did it know one will tell me so i just keep my eyes on my listings now

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 20 May 2011 13:19:46 +0000

@Mike
How exactly did they take your listing?

By: Mike Porter

Mike Porter — Fri, 20 May 2011 12:53:22 +0000

Dependable Take my listing from me had to call goole to get it back a lot of red tape… Cant beleve this crap goes on……

By: ACME Locksmith in Phoenix

ACME Locksmith in Phoenix — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 22:09:42 +0000

Looks like "Dependable" took another hit for hiring illegal aliens as locksmiths. Florida Locksmith Service Indicted

By: Bob

Bob — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 15:40:09 +0000

This is really bad, they need to be stopped, its not fair on the real locksmiths! I don;t know how they can get away with that, crazy!

By: Federal Bust of Dependable Locksmith in Florida Strikes at Heart of Locksmith Scams | Understanding Google Maps & Local Search

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:22:56 +0000

[...] headquarters in Clearwater, Fl. Dependable has been one of the companies frequently mentioned as it related to the national locksmith scams. The raid was coordinated with authorities in [...]

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:25:13 +0000

Steve

How recently has your record been “cleaned up” and then rehijacked?