Moving scam and tips to avoid it

One of the scandalous movers, Asher Yaakubov, was arrested in New York after his team had scammed a couple of clients and took about $50,000 worth of their valuable possessions.

Those fake movers knew who they were coming for. They chose their victims wisely: a young busy woman who agreed to pay upfront to carry out a quick move and a desperate married couple who had to be out of the apartment within 24 hours after the scheduled moving day.

According to the New York Post, these odious movers were advertising on Craigslist, and that’s exactly where the three moving fraud victims found them.

The brats robbed at least 3 customers. They took their most valuable things (like expensive jewelry, $8,000 set of china, documents, family heirlooms, furniture), but also made these clients pay them upfront. And, they demanded almost 4 times as much as the average trustworthy moving companies in NYC charge for their high-quality services.

 Lastly, as one of the three fake movers was caught, his two accomplices are still out there trying to test their luck and scam even more gullible New Yorkers.

Unfortunately, with the recession on the market of moving services, which happened due to the housing crisis, moving scams happen more and more frequently. It’s reported that at least 2 out of 10 Americans, who decide to entrust their move to one of the residntial moving companies, are scammed.

The statistics are devastating, especially if we take into consideration the fact that it’s extremely difficult, sometimes even impossible, to track down such moving robbers and return the possessions they steal back to their owners.

The lack of control over the movers’ performance, especially during the delivery part of the move, as well as additional hidden fees a lot of shady companies include into their contracts to make clients pay a lot more money on top of the original estimate, lost and damaged things turn customer’s moving experience into a total nightmare.

That’s why the most important thing you have to do in order to ensure a smooth and stress-free move is to conduct a throughout research and choose the most reliable local moving company.

You may find one on HireRush.com – one of the newest business directory websites that match customers with the most reliable service providers in their local area, a great alternative to the giants like Craigslist or Thumbtack, fishing spots for fake and shady providers. And this moving scam prevention guide will help you make the right decision and avoid fraudulent movers before they have a chance to take your entire life and disappear.

Don’t trust the movers if:

1. they don’t answer your call using their company name;
2. they can’t prove that they have their operation license and insurance (check only original documents, not their copies);
3. you can’t find any customer reviews, registration information, company’s local offices, etc.;
4. they show up too late on your moving day;
5. they don’t have all necessary packing supplies and heavy lifting equipment;
6. they demand a significant deposit, which has to be paid upfront (why would they come to pretend like they’re doing something if they already have your money?);
7. the estimate they give you is too low or too high if compared to the average moving rates in your local area (they’ll either ask you to pay twice as much as they’ve estimated on your moving day hoping that you won’t have any time to find another moving company, or just take your deposit and disappear);
8. they don’t agree/offer to sign a written contract with a fixed price of their services, as well as performance dates (no contract – no court);
9. their vehicles aren’t branded (no company logos, phone numbers, email addresses on their sides) and equipped according to the moving purposes;
10. they give you wrong phone numbers (check them in advance);
11. they request you to sign incomplete or blank documents (God knows what conditions and payment requirements they’re going to fill that blank space with);
12. you can’t find their moving company on the Better Business Bureau website;
13. they won’t provide you with the moving truck’s location during the long-distance move.

Be aware of these red flags not to become yet another victim of the moving fraudsters like that family from New York and many others.