How the scams work, and how to catch them in public records before your furniture is on someone else's truck.
The scams have gone digital: virtual lowball quotes, Zelle deposits, review farms. Here is this year's playbook, step by step, with the counter for each move.
Read the guideShut down under one name, reopened next month under another: same address, same trucks, same people. Here is how the record gives them away.
Read the guide →Your bill is based on weight, and some movers make the weight up. Federal investigators call it weight bumping. You have the right to watch the scale.
Read the guide →The #1 source of moving nightmares is not knowing who actually drives the truck. Here is how to tell in 30 seconds.
Read the guide →It sounds impossible, but it is a federal complaint category: movers demanding extra cash before releasing your belongings.
Read the guide →Five checks, five minutes, and you have blocked the most common moving scams. Do this before paying any deposit.
Read the guide →The deposit is where most moving scams actually collect. Here is what honest deposits look like, and what thieves ask for.
Read the guide →The single most important word on your moving paperwork is "binding". Here is what each estimate type really commits you to.
Read the guide →Your 70-inch TV is worth about $27 to your mover unless you change the default. Valuation, explained in plain English.
Read the guide →Federal complaints are permanent, public, and trigger real enforcement. Here is exactly where and how to file.
Read the guide →Five moves, always in the same order. Every one of them is visible in public records before it reaches you.
You have more power than it feels like. Do these three things, in this order.
Every guide ends the same way: run the company through the records.