Tim Walker remembers preparing for his move from Sterling, Va., to Carson City, Nev., almost 10 years ago.
By Kristen Schmid Schurter, for USA TODAY
Tim Walker started the website movingscam.com after a moving company tried to charge him more than twice their estimate and kept his possessions hostage for six weeks in 2001.
By Kristen Schmid Schurter, for USA TODAY
Tim Walker started the website movingscam.com after a moving company tried to charge him more than twice their estimate and kept his possessions hostage for six weeks in 2001.
Walker found a company online that advertised the low quote of $1,869.
"I just looked at the estimates in front of me and picked the one that cost the least," he says. "It was a big mistake."
Once everything was loaded, Walker says he was told that he had to pay $5,012.50, and half was due immediately.
Feeling he had no choice, Walker paid. Later, his things were held hostage until he paid more than double his estimate.
He'd fallen victim to a scam.
Immediately, he started MovingScam.com to share his story and to allow other victims to share theirs.
1. Don�t book a moving company solely online. Meet your movers before moving day.
2. Look at a variety of companies and make comparisons among at least three written in home estimates.
3. Get references from other customers.
4. Check for a ProMover logo, which indicates that the company has passed an annual check for felony convictions, improper advertising and good Better Business Bureau ratings.
5. Check Protectyourmove.gov to see a company's complaint history, its safety record and how it compares to companies nationally.
Sources: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration; Movers� and Warehousemen�s Association; American Moving and Storage Association.
"Every time I went to the message board, I saw stories as bad or worse than mine," he says.
These scams are a growing problem, says Thomas Calcagni, director of the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, which recently launched a sting to crack down on the scams.
"There are thousands of people offering moving services to anyone that will hire them," Calcagni says, "but many of them are dishonest."
Posts on Walker's website include claims of fake companies, excessive packaging fees, broken or stolen items and altered contracts.
As of last week, the website has had 134,666 posts and "millions of visitors," Walker says.
"We try very hard to remove bogus stories, and over the years we've become pretty adept at spotting them," Walker says. "I also try to work with moving companies who feel that a complaint is unfair."
Walker's case was one of many complaints against four companies: Majesty Moving and Storage, America's Best Movers, My Best Movers and Apollo Van Lines. All were owned by Yair Malol, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
Arrested in 2003, Malol was found guilty of wire fraud, extortion and conspiracy and sentenced to 12� years in federal prison, court records show. The four companies no longer operate as shippers of household goods, according to the U.S Department of Transportation's Office of Inspector General. More than 1,000 people were victims of approximately $1.8 million in fraud over a two-year period.
Michael Garcia, transportation attorney and author of Moving Company Legal Guide, says that good movers making mistakes often are lumped in with scam artists.
"The large majority of movers out there are honest, professional companies," Garcia says.
Ross Sapir, general manager of New York-based Infinity Moving and Storage, says posted complaints often are not valid.
"Anyone can post on that website, they can write whatever they want," Sapir says. "You cannot defend yourself."
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