Federal investigators say illegal movers are targeting consumers across the country, including here in the Puget Sound area.

Those who contacted KOMO 4 News say the movers offer a great deal and are very professional over the phone. The trouble starts when the movers show up at your door.

"All they wanted was the money and what they could steal," says an angry Karl Johnson from his home in Florida.

Reports show Johnson hired a moving company called Majesty Moving and Storage. He says Majesty more than doubled his bill before they would unload his belongings, which were badly damaged or missing.

An investigation determined Majesty Movers also used the name Elite Van Lines, a company Shawn Sloan hired for her move.

"We paid them. They have our money. They have our things," said Sloan. She says she and her family spent 6 weeks without their furniture, then when the movers arrived, they demanded more money.

"I just wanted to move from San Diego back to Seattle," said Laurie Luka, who hired a moving company called USA Van Lines. The movers showed up at her San Diego home in a Ryder rental truck. Once they loaded her furniture, the original quote of $1,500 jumped to $3,800.

"This is a perfect scam. It's a perfect scam because they know you're in trouble. They know you need to move," she said.

Seattle Chiropractor Dr. Robyn DeSautel says, "They use a different phone number. They'll change their P.O. box."

DeSautel had the same experience with a company called Zebra Movers. The original quote was $1,450. She says sent them $300 to lock down the quote.

"They had to have cash," said DeSautel. "Money order or cashier's check." She says the movers showed up in a rental truck and demanded another $4,192. She talked them down to $3,000, bringing the total cost of her move to $3,400 - all in cash.

But that's not all: "50% of it was all wet and damaged and there's at least $3,000 worth of stuff that didn't show up at all," says DeSautel.

How It Works

Here's how it works: The movers advertise over the Internet and in the yellow pages. They give a low bid to get your business, then show up in an unmarked truck or even a rental truck. Their objective is to get your property, then jack up the bid.

There are victims in virtually every state. Federal investigators say the major hot spots of operation appear to be California, New York and Florida.

A major FBI operation in Florida this spring shut down 16 illegal moving companies and arrested 74 owners and employees, including the companies who moved Robyn and Laurie to Seattle.

But investigators warn others are out there, and if you get taken, you have no protection.

"I tried to call the Attorney General," Luka says. "I tried calling the Department of Transportation."

Dr. DeSautel says, "The police said basically there's nothing they can do. It's out of their jurisdiction."

The laws don't protect you because state regulators can only go after companies that move you within the state.

"We don't have any jurisdiction on interstate moves," said Mark Halliday of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission. "Basically, that's under the federal authority."

The feds don't have enough inspectors to enforce the law. There are only three for the entire country.

Federal investigators now have questions about a moving company in this area. They're investigating Nationwide Moving Systems, with addresses in Kirkland and Woodinville.

Complaints filed with the State Attorney General show complaints of inflated charges and damaged property.

The complaints also link Nationwide Moving Systems to some of the same companies indicted by the feds in Florida.

In their complaint, Alicia Laguna and Kris Morris say they originally contracted with a company called All Points USA to move from Seattle to Pacifica, California.

The say All Points USA gave them a quote of $2,000 for the move. When they called to confirm their reservation, the women say they were told to contact Nationwide Moving Systems.

After the truck was loaded, Morris and Laguna say the Nationwide movers told them the move would cost $5,000 and pressured them to pay in cash.

According to the FBI reports, All Points USA is among the moving companies indicted in Florida.

John Jennings says he contracted with Elite Van Lines to move from to Boynton Beach, Florida. "On October 21, 2002, Nationwide shows up at our residence in Issaquah, Washington giving the impression that they represented Elite Van Lines, " Jennings writes in his complaint on file with the State Attorney General.

Elite Van Lines is also named in the federal grand jury indictments.

The State Utilities and Transportation Commission says Nationwide failed to obtain the required registration before doing business and is currently not registered and should not be operating in this state.

Nationwide customer Jeanette Marshall-Hill welcomes the investigation. She just took a bus back from Louisiana to try to get compensation.

Marshall-Hill has pictures of the damaged furniture and opened boxes that were dropped off in Louisiana. She says a number of items are missing. "I had to pay them $1,600." That was double her original quote.

Louisiana Police got involved in Jeanette's case, when the movers - who claimed to work out of Florida - insisted she pay cash before they would unloaded the truck.

KOMO 4 News asked: "The police told you to take pictures? " Jeanette Marshall-Hill says "Yeah, the officer told me to take pictures."

The owner of Nationwide Moving Systems declined repeated requests for an interview, and has denied cheating customers.

Tips To Avoid Pratfalls

Meanwhile, investigators warn before you hire any mover:

• Verify their registration, check their background, and never release your property without an in-person estimate in writing. Verbal estimates are not binding.
• Avoid hiring a mover solely based on the cheapest bid. A low bid is no way to determine quality or reliability.
• Avoid any mover who refuses to come out and physically look at your belongings to get a good idea of what you have.
• Try to deal with a company with a physical location in your community and check their registration with the Utilities and Transportation Commission.
• Look for red flags such as unmarked trucks or standard rental trucks, unprofessional attire, documents with unprofessional looking logos or no company logo at all and companies that use a different name than the company you originally contacted.

The illegal moving companies have a number of things in common including low initial quotes, moving crews who often use rental trucks, the use of a number of different company names, and inexperienced workers from Russia or Israel who speak little English.

For More Information:

Moving Scams -- www.movingscam.com
Miami FBI Moving Scams -- miami.fbi.gov
WUTC -- www.wutc.wa.gov
www.fmcsa.dot.gov