MIAMI -- You get locked out of your car or home, or want to change your locks. You call the locksmith you trust. But do you know who is actually showing up?

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"Well, Richard's has been around for a long time," said NBC reporter Jeff Burnside posing as a driver who locked his keys in a car.

"They're busy sometimes and they call me," said the locksmith who showed up to unlock the car.

On hidden camera, the locksmith claims he's working on behalf of a well-known locksmith company named "Richard's Locksmith and Safes" on Sample Road in Coral Springs, Florida.

In fact, we called directory assistance and asked simply for "Richard's Locksmith." We dialed that number. "Yea, Richard's," said Burnside, "Do you help people who are locked out of their car?"

But the locksmith who showed up was not the one we intended. When we confronted him, we discovered he works for "Boca Security Services." The locksmith, who wouldn't give us his name, conceded there is deception in the way his boss got our business.

"You would agree with that, wouldn't you?" asked Burnside.

"I guess there is. Everyone does their business their own way. It's unfortunate."

Here's what happens. When a customer does an Internet search or calls Directory Assistance for a favorite locksmith, like "Richard's," you may get the real number. But you also get a slew of copycats using similar names that can mislead a lot of customers.

"I've been cheated by an unscrupulous locksmith," says salon owner Steve Holbrook who looked up his favorite locksmith to come change door locks, only to find out later he'd been misled by the same "Boca Security Services."

"I called Richard's Locksmith," he said. "I thought it was Richard's Locksmith that I'd been dealing with for over 30 years. Who came to my business was not a Richard's Locksmith person."

"I'm very angry about it," says Jack Rothberg, owner of Richard's Locksmith and Safe, who says he and others like him are losing tens of thousands of dollars to imposters. "They're not only stealing our business, they're overcharging the customers. We don't know what's happening after they do a job for them (because) they have a copy of the keys."

It gets worse.

When Rothberg tried to stop those imposters, security camera video captured someone vandalizing his repair fleet. And someone shot bullets into his store window. The court convicted David Merkatz, then owner of Boca Security Services. Through a lawyer, Merkatz declined to talk to NBC 6.

Indeed, Merkatz, new owners of Boca Security Services, and others are accused by several South Florida locksmith's of misleading their customers the same way.

We went to several addresses listed under "Richard's Locksmiths" and found no locksmiths anywhere, suggesting they were copycat locksmiths.

"Your boss seems to be trying to mimic, to trick people essentially," Burnside asked the copycat locksmith who showed up to unlock the car.

The locksmith said, "why don't you just go and talk to him?"

When NBC 6 tried, we went to the address listed in state records for Boca Security Services and found it was a Pak Mail store. Box 124. On the phone, the new owners say the misleading tactics are common but insist it's legal.

Florida's Attorney General disagrees.

"What's been described to me, " said Bill McCullom, "Sounds like it's a pattern, a pattern that probably would prove an unfair and deceptive trade practice."

There is a move underway to license locksmiths in Florida as some other states do.

Meantime, a locksmith trade group warns you to be careful whom you call. When the locksmith arrives, check his uniform, and the name on the receipt. And report suspicious locksmiths to police.

You can reach investigative reporter Jeff Burnside at jeff.burnside@nbc.com.