The Red Flags of Mover Fraud

Rogue movers typically work like this: Without ever visiting your home or seeing the goods you want to be moved, they give a low-ball estimate over the phone or Internet.

Once your goods are on their truck, they demand more money before they’ll deliver or unload them. They hold your goods hostage and force you to pay more — sometimes much more than you agreed to — or you may not recover your possessions.

Your best defense is to recognize a rogue mover before they have your goods. Here are the “red flags” of a rogue moving operation.

They don’t make an on-site inspection.

• The mover doesn’t offer or agree to an on-site inspection of your household goods and gives an estimate over the phone or Internet — sight-unseen. These estimates often sound too-good-to-be-true. They usually are.

They insist on payment first.

• The moving company demands cash or a large deposit before the move.

They don’t inform you of your rights and responsibilities.

• The mover doesn’t provide you with a copy of “Your Rights and Responsibilities When You Move,” a booklet movers are required by Federal regulations to supply to their customers in the planning stages of interstate moves.

They have no local address, license or insurance.

• The company’s website has no local address and no information about licensing or insurance.

They make false claims.

• The mover claims all goods are covered by their insurance.

They have no company name.

• When you call the mover, the telephone is answered with a generic “Movers” or “Moving company,” rather than the company’s name.

Do they even have an office?

• Offices and warehouse are in poor condition or nonexistent.

They arrive in a generic rental truck.

• On moving day, a rental truck arrives rather than a company-owned and marked fleet truck.