Online key duplicators make turning to crime easier

China’s e-vendors can crank out duplicates of anything for anyone – even the keys to your house.

The Chengdu Business Daily reported that numerous online locksmiths in China are offering key duplication services that require only an uploaded photo of the original.

While a convenience for the chronically forgetful, online locksmithing has raised security concerns for years as ID is not required.

In China and elsewhere, locksmiths are legally obliged to ask for proof of residence and alert local police before opening a lock.

Not only do online locksmiths circumvent this system, they may not be held liable in cases of criminal activity.

In a recent case, A Beijing man was arrested in August for robbing a coworker’s home three times using a key he had similarly bought online.

The paper further put the risks in context: For around 100 yuan ($16), a reporter posing as a customer successfully bought copies of keys to a front door, bedroom and mailbox simply by providing photos of them.

When the first copy of the front door key didn’t work, the vendor promptly sent a replacement that did.

House locks are not the only ones vulnerable to such services. “Making key copies for cars is even easier than making copies of house keys because the car models are fixed,” explained Liu Zhixiang, president of the Chengdu Association of Locksmiths.

Remote car keys are readily available online for a number of makes and models – including specialized equipment needed to use the key.

The process for matching the key to a Chevrolet took the reporter seconds, and not once did the vendor ask for ID, read the report.

While lawmakers in China called for more oversight of online locksmiths in 2007 and 2010, experts say more action is necessary. “Authorities should strengthen supervision of the industry,” said Liu.