I’ll never forget some years ago when new neighbors moved onto our street in Ellicott City.  They had such a nightmare with their movers — the scam was: “we have all your things in our trucks, but underestimated the weight, so now pay us a thousand more bucks or we’re leaving.”  The new neighbors were very upset by this, didn’t pay up and their stuff was sent to some unknown storage place while they tried to come to an agreement with the company.  At the end of it all, they had to pay up to get their things and then ended up losing a computer and some boxes.

Another moving scam occurs when the unsuspecting customer pays a chunk of change up front for the move and on moving day. . .no one shows up and the phone number is disconnected.  Ouch!

Real estate agents have a list of reputable movers and are always willing to pass along that information.  Otherwise here are some things to watch out for when choosing a mover:

* always get estimates from at least three separate companies — they should come to your home, go room to room to give you a written estimate of the costs — and they should be willing to put everything in writing.

* avoid movers who only accept cash or who want a large deposit up front.

* the company should have a local address, phone number and website.

In addition, you can check the company out at the Better Business Bureau website: [1] www.bbbonline.org, at the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration (FMCSA) [2] www.fmcsa.dot.gov, at the American Moving and Storage Association website: [3] www.moving.org , at a user-generated site that maintains a ”blacklist” of bad movers: [4] www.movingscam.com , and [5] www.protectyourmove.gov .

Already been scammed by a mover?  There may be some recourse.  Call the FMCSA hotline M-F 9am to 9pm at 1-888-368-7238.