Top 10 Red Flags of a Rogue Mover (And How to Spot Moving Scams)

This is the big one. The absolute number one.

Every single legitimate interstate moving company (one that crosses state lines) must be registered with the U.S. Department of Transportation. They are legally required to have two numbers:

• A USDOT number (U.S. Department of Transportation)
• An MC number (Motor Carrier)

If they are a local mover (only moving within your state), the rules vary. But most states (like Texas, where I lived for years) have their own licensing requirements.

Scammers hate these numbers because they create a paper trail.

What to do: Ask for their DOT and MC numbers. Don’t just take their word for it. A real mover will have them printed on their website (usually in the footer), on their estimates, and on their emails.

Then, go directly to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) website. They have a search tool. We have a guide on how to check a mover’s USDOT number using this exact tool. Plug in the number. You should see the company’s legal name, their address, and whether their authority is “Active.” You can also see their complaint history.

If they say, “Oh, we’re so new we don’t have one yet,” or “We use our partner’s number,” or they just can’t give you one… Run. Do not walk. Run. This is one of the most common moving mistakes you can make.

This one’s personal for me. When I was vetting movers for my own family, I found a company with a great-looking website and cheap prices. Their address was listed as a downtown Nashville suite.

Just for kicks, I drove by. It was a UPS Store.

A real moving company has trucks. They have equipment. They have a warehouse or, at the very least, a real, physical office where they dispatch those trucks. A P.O. box or a mail-drop address means they have no physical anchor.

Why this matters: If they steal your stuff, where do you go? Who do you serve papers to? You can’t. They just… disappear. They shut down the website, get a new phone number, and open up under a new name next week.

What to do: Google the address. Use Google Maps and click on “Street View.” Does it look like a place that can park a 53-foot moving van? Or is it a mailbox shop, a residential house, or a vacant lot? If it’s not clearly a commercial address for a moving or storage business, that’s a huge flag.

Let’s be very, very clear about this.

No legitimate moving company will ever demand a large deposit upfront.

A small booking fee to reserve your date? Like $100 or maybe $200? Okay, that’s debatable but sometimes normal.

But a rogue mover will ask for 25%, 30%, or even 50% of the total estimated cost just to book. They’ll pressure you, saying, “We can’t hold your spot without a deposit.”

They’re not trying to “hold your spot.” They’re trying to take your money. Once they have it, you have zero power. They can show up late. They can show up with the wrong-sized truck. They can… not show up at all. And good luck getting that deposit back.

What to do: Just say no. The standard, professional practice in the moving industry is to pay upon delivery. Once your items are off the truck and in your new home, that’s when you pay. Anyone who demands a big chunk of cash before they’ve lifted a single box is a high-risk bet.

This flag can pop up at two different times: during booking or on moving day.

If a company only accepts cash, a wire transfer, a cashier’s check, or (God forbid) a payment through an app like Zelle or Venmo… this is bad. Very bad.

Why? Cash is untraceable.

Scammers love cash because once you hand it over, it’s gone. There is no dispute process. There’s no credit card company you can call to do a chargeback. You have zero recourse.

My sister’s hostage situation? The driver demanded cash. He knew that if she paid, she could never get it back, even though the charge was completely fraudulent.

What to do: Always, always plan to pay with a credit card. It is your single best piece of protection. When you’re vetting the company, ask them straight up: “What forms of payment do you accept? Do you take all major credit cards?”

If they hesitate, or try to offer you a “big discount for cash,” they’re not trying to save you money. They’re trying to take away your power.

This is one of the most common traps.

You call for a quote. The person on the phone is super friendly. “Oh, a three-bedroom house moving from Austin to Nashville? Yeah, we can do that for $2,500.” (You can check that against our moving cost calculator to see if it’s realistic).

It sounds amazing. It’s half of what everyone else quoted. You book it.

And you’ve just been scammed.

No one can give you an accurate quote without a detailed inventory. Period. My logistics background taught me that you cannot price a shipment without knowing its exact volume and weight.

A real mover will insist on one of two things:

1. An in-home estimate: Someone physically comes to your house and walks through every room.
2. A virtual walk-through: You use your smartphone on a video call to show them everything – inside the closets, the garage, the attic.

Without this, their “quote” is just a guess. And it’s a guess designed to get you on the hook. The real price will show up on moving day, and it will be thousands of dollars higher.

What to do: Insist on a binding estimate or a binding-not-to-exceed estimate.

• Binding: This is a fixed-price estimate. The price they quote is the price you pay, even if your stuff weighs a little more.
• Binding-Not-to-Exceed: This is the best one. It’s a guaranteed price, but if your items weigh less than expected, the price goes down.

Never, ever accept a “non-binding” estimate. That’s just a license for them to charge you whatever they want.

This one isn’t technical, but it’s just as important. How do they make you feel?

When you call, do they answer the phone with a generic “Movers” or “Moving company” instead of their specific business name? That’s a classic sign of a “broker” who just farms out jobs to anyone, or a scammer running multiple fake companies from one phone.

Are they super pushy? “This quote is only good for today.” “We only have one truck left, you have to book right now.”

A good, professional moving company is busy, yes, but they’re not used-car salesmen. They’re relocation coordinators. They should be patient. They should answer your (many) questions. You’re entrusting them with your home, your kids’ toys, your family’s entire physical history.

What to do: Trust your gut. If the person on the phone sounds bored, annoyed, unprofessional, or just… shady… hang up. There are plenty of other companies. This is a partnership, and you don’t want to partner with someone who already makes you feel anxious.

It’s moving day. You’re nervous but excited. And then… a rented U-Haul, a Budget truck, or a plain, unmarked white van pulls up to your house.

This is a five-alarm fire.

Legitimate, established moving companies own or lease their fleet. Their trucks have their company name, logo, and those all-important USDOT/MC numbers painted on the side. It’s their biggest form of advertising!

An unmarked truck means one of two things, both bad:

1. The company you thought you hired was just a broker, and they sold your job to the cheapest, sketchiest sub-contractor they could find.
2. These are just some guys the scammer hired off Craigslist for the day.

The “moving crew” will often be in street clothes, not uniforms. They won’t have the right equipment. And they are not the professionals you thought you were paying for.

What to do: This is tough. If this happens, I would honestly consider not letting them in your house. I know that’s a horrible choice to make on moving day. But call the company immediately. Ask them why the truck is unmarked. Their answer will tell you everything.

This is one of the trickiest parts of how to avoid moving scams. Scammers are great at faking reviews.

You’ll look up “Extra Mile Moving review” (or whatever their name is) and see a bunch of 5-star ratings. But look closer.

• Are all the reviews generic? “Great move! Fast! Professional!”
• Are they all posted around the same date?
• Are the usernames weird, like “John S.” and “Mike B.” and “Sarah K.” one after another?

Now, here’s the real secret: Ignore the 5-star reviews and ignore the 3-star reviews. Go straight to the 1-star reviews.

A good company might have a few 1-star reviews saying, “They were an hour late,” or “They scuffed my wall.”

A rogue mover’s 1-star reviews will all tell the same horror story:

• “They held my stuff hostage!”
• “The price doubled on moving day!”
• “Stole my TV.”
• “Refused to unload the truck until I paid them in cash.”

When you see a pattern of these catastrophic failures, you’re looking at a scam. Also, check the Better Business Bureau (BBB). Scammers can’t scrub their BBB profile as easily as they can Yelp or Google.

This is the big one. This is the “hostage” situation my sister Megan went through. It’s the culmination of all the other red flags.

Here’s how it works:

1. They give you a low, non-binding quote (Flag #5).
2. The unmarked truck shows up (Flag #7).
3. The “moving crew” loads all of your belongings. They work fast.
4. After the truck is loaded and locked, the foreman comes to you with a new clipboard and a new bill. This is the “change order.”

He’ll say, “Oh, your stuff weighs way more than we thought.” Or, “The walk from your door to our truck is a ‘long carry,’ that’s an extra $600.” Or my personal favorite: “You have more boxes than we estimated.”

The new price is double. Or triple.

And here’s the kicker: they tell you they will not unload any of your items at your new home until you pay the new price. In cash (Flag #4).

This is extortion, plain and simple. And it’s how these moving companies scams make all their money.

What to do: This is why that binding-not-to-exceed estimate is your shield. If you have that, you can show them the contract. A legitimate change order is something you must agree to and sign before the work is done, not something they spring on you.

If you don’t have one and they pull this… it’s a nightmare. You can try to call the police (who will probably say it’s a “civil matter”) and you must report them to the FMCSA.

This is a quick, easy one to spot during the vetting process.

Ask them, “Can you explain your liability and insurance options?”

If they get vague, stumble, or say, “Don’t worry, we’re fully insured! We’re pros, we don’t break anything”… HANG UP.

By federal law, all interstate movers must offer two options:

1. Released Value Protection: This is the free, basic coverage. It is NOT insurance. It covers 60 cents per pound, per item. That means when they break your $1,000, 50-pound TV, you get… $30. It’s basically worthless, but they must offer it.
2. Full Value Protection: This is what you want. It costs extra, but it means the mover is responsible for the current market replacement value of any lost or damaged item.

If a company can’t clearly explain this to you, or can’t provide you with a certificate of their insurance, they are not a real company. They’re a risk you can’t afford to take.