Protecting your home from lock bumping

Protecting your home from lock bumping

February 19, 2007

By BO WILLIAMS
Good Morning Tennessee Anchor/Reporter

KNOXVILLE (WATE) -- A practice called lock bumping can get criminals inside your home with no sign of forced entry. But there are some simple ways you can protect your property.

Lock bumping, a practice started by locksmiths to service locks, has been around since the 1800's. Now, thanks to the world wide web, knowledge of lock bumping is spreading easily.

"We've seen Web sites go up 200,00 or 300,000 thousand times a day in hits," says Bill Peters, a locksmith with FM George Safe & Lock Company in Knoxville.

"You can lock and unlock a door and nobody knows it," Peters explains. "We've heard insurance companies will deny claims because there is no proof of forced entry so it does cause alarm. It's something for people to think about."

Criminals bump locks by altering basic house keys with a series of cuts. When they use the bump key at a home, they put it in the lock, make a tap or series of taps that affect the pins and the door unlocks.

6 News put lock bumping to the test recently after some home owners gave us permission. Unfortunately, it only took one bump key and a couple taps for us to get in. The altered key doesn't go to the lock or the house. But it could've gotten us into more than one house.

"It is basically picking a lock with a key. It's very simple to do," Peters says.

One thing you can do to protect your home is replace your locks with high security class one locks.

One residential deadbolt lock made by Medeco is bump proof and pick proof. It's also under a utility patent, meaning no one can duplicate your key without authorization. These locks run between $150 - $200.

Another option is to have a locksmith replace your lock's cylinder with one that is bump proof. These cost roughly between $65 - $80.

Your other options include keyless locks, jimmy proof locks and biometric locks.

You can also help protect your home with better lighting, pets and alarm systems.