BBB Alert: How to protect yourself from moving fraud

CHARLOTTE, NC – When Jennifer Evans hired Discount Van Lines for her move to Florida, she thought the offer was too good to be true – and it was.

“We didn’t see our things until August 28th and they picked them up on June 11th.”

Evans said the company promised to bring her family’s belongings to Florida, but after she paid thousands of dollars, the nightmare began.

“Every time they called, they yelled at us and demanded more money. They said they had to pay storage fees,” Evans said.

The company has held back shipments of Evans items for nearly three months.

“I didn’t know if we were going to get our stuff. All of my childhood stuff was in there. All of my kids’ stuff. Our pictures. Every single item we owned, including both of our businesses, computers, everything was in that truck,” Evans said.

Julianna O’Rourke of the Better Business Bureau said such scams are all too common.

In 2023, nearly 6,000 complaints were filed with the BBB against moving companies.

People who fell victim to moving scams in 2023 and reported them to the BBB scam tracker lost an average of $350.

O’Rourke recommends getting everything in writing when hiring a moving company. It should also be easy to find a lot of information about the company if it’s reputable.

“Anyone who wants to hire a moving company should put everything in writing. Make sure you have everything documented. If there’s something in there that you don’t understand, be sure to ask the company questions,” O’Rourke said.

Evans says she learned this lesson the hard way, but she doesn’t want anyone else to have to go through it.

“You really have to do your due diligence and search the internet and keep looking for reviews,” Evans said.

To report a scam, you can file a complaint through the Better Business Bureau website.