So, I had a personal experience last week with a moving company that is scamming people. It started out very strange as we get a phone call from a company in Maryland, he started to tell us that there was a moving company in Maryland that was using our name and logo on the home page of their website as we were “partnering” with them. We just assumed it was a telemarketer and told him we would take the information and look into it and hung up. Well, he called right back and he proceeded to tell us that this company had been on the news and had been scamming people, including him. He sent me the link and yes, they were using our logo on their home page! The Maryland attorney generals office took care of this for me the same day!
I stated looking into this and here is how the scam works. You call a moving company and have them give you an estimate and they lowball the quote on the phone. Moving day comes along, they show up, pack up all of your belongings and proceed to tell you that you will have to pay a much higher amount or don’t get your belongings back. Basically they hold your belongings hostage for more money. Now, you would think if they do this enough times, they would get caught and not be in business any longer. Unfortunately, all they have to do is to start another company and do it all over again. Also, because this is usually an intrastate crime (crossing state borders) the enforcement agency is the federal government and we all know nothing gets done quickly with them. It’s difficult to determine if this is a good company or not because they control all of the reviews, of course they are perfect! The reviews are perfect but look to see how new they are. To protect yourself, get it in writing, ask your friends for referrals, call the Better business Bureau, Check with the attorney generals office for complaints.
Here is a link to a brochure published by the FMCSA
https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/sites/fmcsa.dot.gov/files/docs/Protect_Your_Move_Brochure.pdf
Here is a link to a news story for one of those moving companies.
https://www.abc2news.com/longform/complaint-ridden-moving-company-tied-to-other-businesses_
Here is some good information about moving scams;
https://www.moving.com/tips/top-10-moving-scams/