How to avoid fraudulent moving companies

One of the best things that have ever happened to this industry is its immense growth over the past 10 years. During this time, and before it, people mostly had to do everything on their own. Not anymore! The number of available moving companies has grown exponentially in the past years and this means that you were given many choices! Not only do you have professionals ready to do the move for you, but you also have many of them to choose from! However, there is a slight problem. With the growth of the industry came the uprise of fraudulent moving companies.

What are fraudulent moving companies? To simplify it as much as possible – they are scammers. They are criminals wanting to rob you of your money. They wish to exploit the growth of this industry and prey on those less informed. It is precisely because of this that it is your duty not to be less informed. Knowledge and information is the key to getting rid of pesky fraudulent moving companies. By knowing about it you can abolish any threat it may pose. I often make a Harry Potter reference when it comes to them. If you have ever ready it or seen the movies, fraudulent moving companies are like the boogeyman. The trick to defeating it is being aware of what he truly is.

We hope that you will find your, for instance, interstate movers NY that are going to help you with everything!

Let’s see how you can root frauds out and hopefully not fall prey to their scams.

Fraudulent moving companies – how to spot them

There are many ways in which one could spot a fraudulent moving company. The best way to do your research and hopefully fend off potential scammers is via the internet. This is an endless source of information where you can test someone’s truthfulness at any time. Be wary though – anyone has access to the internet. This means that not all information found it is absolutely true. Still, what you are looking for is most likely there and waiting to be checked.

We always strongly advise that you seek a residential moving company online. This way you will have many options to explore from the comfort of your own home, without having to talk to anyone at first. Simply surf the web and explore various options. This way you will, eventually, end up with a list of moving companies you are interested in. It could either be top three, or top five. Regardless, you will have a list of company names. Once you have this list, your little investigation begins. You will be your very own Sherlock Holmes. Be a detective and try to discover as much as you can about the chosen companies. During this investigation, most become obvious, whether or not they are legit companies. But, this is possible if you know what to look for. This is what we will help you with!

Investigate their website – look for company info

The first obvious red light that something is fishy is the quality of the website itself. If it is bland and very low quality, you may start questioning their legitimacy. See, if the company is a scam they are, usually, not going to invest too much time into building their website. To them, it should exist, but it shouldn’t be anything special. If their website is weak start looking for company information.

Try to see where they are centered, do they have an address and an official contact phone or email. Furthermore, find their license number and insurance policy which every serious company should have. If you can’t find any of this they are either scammers or a very new startup. Be as it may, this is a red light. One you should be very careful about.

Research the chosen companies on various forums – if they are fraudulent moving companies someone will tell

If someone somewhere had fallen prey to frauds – they will be very vocal about it. And this is a great thing. Anyone who’s ever fallen prey to a scam should speak up about it and help prevent this happening to someone else. This is going to be the next stop for you. Look up the desired moving company and try to figure out if anyone is bad mouthing them. If so, why? Are the arguments legitimate or is it just someone trying to create bad marketing. If you wish to hire professional fine art movers NYC, they will have many credentials online that can confirm their legitimacy.

Still, if someone got scammed, you should find out about it. It may save you from an upcoming fraud.

Start communicating with the company

If they have a phone number, which they must, you should engage in talking to them. Call them and see if they offer any type of estimation. Talk about the conditions of service that they have, and how they usually conduct business. Ask about any reference that they have to share as of recently. How soon can the move be organized and how much would the whole thing cost. If you see some inconsistencies in this conversation they are most likely either very new or simply up to something. Carefully listen to what they have to say and see if you can make sense out of it.

There is one very important immediate red light for you – asking for money in advance. Which is what fraudulent moving companies usually do. No serious moving company will ever do something like this. Besides, you should never pay for a service before anything starts. You pay for it once everything is done. Any company that asks for a downpayment is most likely going to conduct some sort of scam, so be very careful with these.