Federal officials announced this week their recent crackdown on scam moving companies resulted in more than 60 enforcement actions. The process could lead to some movers losing their licenses, a consequence Newsweek recently found often fails to shut down the firms.
Announced in April, Operation: Protect Your Move focused many investigators on companies with the most U.S. Department of Transportation complaints. Consumers accused many of the companies of holding their possessions “hostage” in exchange for exorbitant fees, a swiftly growing problem complained about 3,644 times in 2022 alone.
The operation was announced after Connecticut Democrat Sen. Richard Blumenthal called for tougher action against moving company scams in a letter to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Blumenthal’s letter was spurred in part by a February Newsweek investigation into the challenges DOT officials face combating the mushrooming problem of scam movers without Congress giving them the authority to arrest or fine for moving company violations.
Investigators from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration conducted more than 100 investigations in 16 states as part of the three-week operation, according to the release announcing the results. The release did not provide any detail about the 60 enforcement actions.
“FMCSA takes very seriously its responsibility to help protect consumers when moving their household goods across state lines,” FMCSA Administrator Robin Hutcheson said. “We’ve made great progress in identifying scam movers and brokers, but we can’t do this alone. We must work with partners across federal and state government to make the greatest impact.”
While the release highlighted the FMCSA’s cooperation with state attorneys general to pursue civil fines against moving companies, it did not announce any new criminal investigations, which would have to be conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Newsweek found in its investigation that despite thousands of complaints per year, DOT investigations have led to only 13 criminal cases and six civil cases against scam moving companies since January 1, 2017.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, right, a Democrat from Connecticut, wrote a letter to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, left, seeking tougher action on moving companies after a Newsweek investigation of the firms. Michael M. Santiago/Getty; Drew Angerer/Getty
One enforcement action the FMCSA can pursue on its own is the revocation of a moving company’s license.
In a June review, Newsweek examined 98 companies that had been the subject of a consumer complaint and had their license revoked during the second half of 2022 for various reasons, including lapses in insurance. Eighteen still advertised cross-country moves on their websites in June.
In this stock photo, movers are seen packing a van with boxes. The number of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration complaints against moving companies more than doubled between 2015 and 2022, from 3,030 to 7,647. In 2022, 3,644 of the complaints alleged goods were held “hostage.” Getty
Newsweek attempted to contact all the companies, but was only able to interview representatives with six of them. Several confirmed they were continuing to carry out cross-country moves.
Matt Clark can be reached at m.clark@newsweek.com or find him on Twitter at @MattTheJourno.