PLDUK Advertising Scam | Locksmith Blog
"Hi, my name is John Smith from West Midlands Police, Don't worry you haven't done anything wrong. I'm calling about the rogue traders campaign...."

Yes this post is about the scammers at PLDUK that call you up pretending to be the police and offer you a placement in their fictional publication.
They're not the first, they won't be the last and if like me you were a naive young locksmith you have probably fallen foul of similar scams in your first year trading.

I have been trading as a local locksmith long enough now to have heard them all so I have no problem just ending the call straight away or leading them on a merry dance for a few munites if I'm feeling cheeky.
The problem is when work is thin on the ground or as a new start up there is always the chance of getting roped into these scams, particularly those that sound like a genuine organisation such as PLDUKs police inpersonation.

I always give new guys one piece of advice:
If the company is cold calling you then it's 99% likely it's a scam or other worthless sales call, I mean always give them a few seconds, you never know....

Common lines are:
"Hi my name is John Smith, I'd like to introduce our company bla bla bla..."
"Could you take on more work in your area? We have 12345 calls a day in your (tiny) suburb and need someone to pass this locksmith work on to..."
"Hi, we noticed we could not find your website ranking well on Google...."

What annoys me most about PLDUK is that their intention is to scare you into thinking they are exposing rogue traders in their magazine and the implication is there that if you don't pay up it could be your locksmith firm. I am pretty sure it's bordering on fraud by impersonating the police in this manner so if they keep pestering you it might be worthwhile dropping a complaint to trading standards or your local police.

Anyone looking to invest their money in advertising should ideally be looking for recommendations from other good locksmiths and using proven methods rather than wasting money with the cold calling firms. Be vigilant and do not be roped in by these scammers. Happy Locksmithing.