At Reindeer Logistics, we want shipping your vehicle to be safe, compliant and free of fraudulent activity. Unfortunately, there are some “bad actors” out there who try to scam customers at a vulnerable time in their lives – a big, hectic, stressful move.
Before handing over your precious asset (your vehicle) to just anyone to ship it for you, make sure you’re aware of these common auto transport scams and potential red flags.
SCAM: double brokering
One of the major auto transport scams to avoid is what’s called “double brokering.” This occurs when the original carrier that was given a shipment proceeds to pass it onto a different carrier without the knowledge or consent of the party that owns the cargo and/or the auto transport company. In many situations, the secondary carrier falsely represents itself as a qualified and vetted carrier when they aren’t.
For a carrier to operate legally and transport vehicles, it must have verifiable documentation that shows compliance with the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) rules and regulations. They also need to show proof of a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL). These scammers won’t have these credentials.
Double brokering is considered fraud by the FMCSA. And it can lead to non-payment to the actual carrier and leave the vehicles on the truck vulnerable to theft. When double brokering occurs, it represents a breach of contract with the original broker. This is the case for carriers who work with Reindeer Logistics. We go above and beyond to catch double brokering by verifying documentation listed above and will also disqualify any carrier that has a broker authority.
SCAM: bait-and-switch pricing
If you get a quote well below market price, that’s a red flag. Suspiciously lowball prices are a sign that there might be hidden costs demanded after you agree to the terms and sign the contract.
Some carriers may also give you a legitimate quote that sounds within the correct range, but then tack on fees later, which is one of the most prevalent scams. Once your vehicle is picked up, the price suddenly increases due to “unexpected” fees. And they can legally ask for more money because their contract includes hidden language that gives them the right to change the terms as they see fit, but you have few options to back out of the deal. They may even refuse to release your vehicle until you give them additional money.
Another pricing scam is to require payment or a deposit up front. Fraudulent companies take your money and then disappear without ever shipping your vehicle. They often provide fake phone numbers and addresses, leaving you with no ability to contact them.
Make sure all costs, including taxes, fees, service charges, and more, are disclosed to you before you agree to anything. And read the contract carefully. Sometimes contracts have wording that gives a significant advantage to the company. By signing it, you’re agreeing to all of it, good or bad. At Reindeer, we give you transparent pricing upfront and will always transport your vehicle for the agreed upon price.
SCAM: theft by deception
Some scammers will pose as legitimate brokers or carriers just to steal from you. They take your money and never ship your vehicle, or take your money and steal your vehicle.
How do they do it? Well, the low-tech method is to alter the shipping order paperwork, manipulating transport details and rerouting the vehicles to fraudulent destinations. The vehicles – usually high-end luxury vehicles – are then unloaded and vanish into the black market.
But the scammers are becoming more and more sophisticated. The tech-savvy scammers hack into the transport company’s system to change transport details with the click of a button. No need to change the actual paperwork. Once in the system, they can see and change details for any vehicle shipment, almost as if they’re shopping for cars online.
In a recent theft involving a $300,000 Rolls-Royce, the scammer got into the system and rerouted the vehicle from its original destination. In another, they got the driver’s contact information and called him, posing as the carrier, to confirm all the details. The one silver lining of this scam is that some of them have gotten caught.
This scam is why it’s more important than ever to work with a reputable company that is fully registered, bonded, and insured. Look for companies with positive customer reviews, a valid motor carrier number from the FMCSA, and high ratings from the Better Business Bureau.
SCAM: lack of proper documentation
A reputable car shipping company will always provide detailed documentation, including a Bill of Lading (BOL) at the pickup and delivery of your vehicle, a current Certificate of Insurance with adequate coverage, among other DOT and FMCSA paperwork. If these documents are absent, it’s a strong indicator of a scam.
Possibly the most important document is the BOL. This document is issued by a carrier to acknowledge receipt of the cargo for shipment. It serves as a shipment receipt when the carrier delivers the vehicle to you. The driver takes notes on the vehicle’s condition, takes pictures of the vehicle, has the customer sign off on it, and sends it all with the BOL to the auto relocation company.
Make sure to read over the BOL before signing it to ensure the carrier hasn’t fudged any of the fees and that your vehicle condition is properly documented. Reindeer Logistics always provides a signed BOL with 15+ pictures at the pickup and delivery location.
SCAM: too good to be true
Okay, so this story isn’t about car shipping, but it’s moving adjacent. This happened to a colleague of mine. We’ll call her Heather.
Heather was in the market for a gently used piano for her kids. And a great way to look for one is on Facebook Marketplace, where many times, pianos are listed for free. Now, it’s not entirely free because you need to hire specialty movers and then pay to have it tuned after it’s moved, which can be hundreds of dollars. A piano is a heavy beast, and usually, people don’t want to pay to have it moved or risk breaking their backs by moving it themselves. Thus, the free part.
Anyway, Heather found a free baby grand piano on Marketplace and immediately reached out to the seller, who referred her to contact their “sister” via email. She emailed this person who gave her a long, sob story about how the piano was her dead husband’s and how much he loved playing it, and she just wanted it to go to a good home, blah, blah, blah. She also presented herself as a “doctor” with all kinds of credentials listed in her email signature.
After a few emails back and forth, the seller, who was moving to Heather’s area, said the piano was already on a moving truck so all she’d have to do is pay a portion of the moving costs for them to stop at her house with the piano (do they even do that?!). Now, this should have been red flag number one, but Heather kept investigating because it was a once-in-a-lifetime find!
It wasn’t until the seller asked Heather to make the payment upfront (red flag!) that she realized this was a scam. Then some of the other details started adding up, such as:
- The seller’s desperation – the sob story and the fact that, after Heather hadn’t responded to an email within a few hours, the seller sent an email that said, “Are you there?”
- No Facebook history – the person who listed the piano joined Facebook this year, had no profile photo, no post history, nothing. Big red flag.
- Stolen identity? – the seller posed as a real person who is actually a doctor. But this person does not live in the city she claimed to be moving from.
- Fake email – Heather googled the email address the seller was using, and 0 entries came up. That’s not normal and a huge sign that the email account was probably opened specifically to execute this scam.
- Stolen piano photos – The piano was real, the seller just never owned it. Heather’s husband found the exact same piano listed on a piano store’s website. The scammer had stolen the images and put them on the Marketplace listing, hoping to find an unsuspecting buyer to scam.
- Upfront money – and, of course, asking for money up-front should always be a red flag that something is a scam.
Fortunately, Heather came out of this scam unscathed (but maybe a little embarrassed). But many people aren’t that lucky. The moral of this story is, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. And the same can be applied to a car shipping offer. Be careful and always trust your gut.
A summary of some red flags:
- Pressure to make an up-front payment
- No verifiable documentation
- Asking for more money after the initial quote
- Fake or minute company presence online
- A quote that seems like a too-good-to-be-true deal
- Fake contact information, address, phone number, etc.
- Little to no online reviews from actual customers
- Pushes you to avoid secure and traceable payment methods
- Hidden clauses in the contract
- Asking to deliver your car at night, possibly to hide damage
How the industry is responding: new regulations
The FMCSA introduced a new regulatory system earlier this year to combat cargo theft, fraud, and increase safety. The new system has added security measures, such as a facial ID verification process, to stop bad actors who are creating new FMCSA-regulated entities or even illegally selling or stealing operating authority numbers.
The new Transportation Secretary is also taking additional steps related to CDL qualifications. He is reviewing the security procedures around how CDLs are given in each state, identifying non-domiciled CDLs, and improving verification protocols for domestic and international credentials to ensure only qualified drivers are behind the wheel.
Reindeer Logistics is constantly taking steps to avoid any double brokering by thoroughly vetting our carriers. We only partner with carriers who meet a rigorous checklist of requirements, including the DOT and FMCSA documentation, but also proper insurance, acceptable safety scores, and an excellent delivery history. Our risk assessment is more stringent than the industry standard, and if they fail the assessment, we don’t work with them.
In a nutshell
At the end of the day, we want your vehicle shipping to be a positive experience. The only way to accomplish that is to properly evaluate the car shipping company you work with and watch out for the red flags.
You wouldn’t buy an expensive car without evaluating its features, its safety rating, its fuel efficiency, and customer and expert reviews. Would you? Make sure they’re worthy of your car shipping business.
Need help with your vehicle relocation? Reindeer Logistics is here to help. We operate an extensive network of highly reputable, licensed, bonded, and insured carriers. At Reindeer, our mission remains to provide the highest quality of shipping services through care, communication, and consistency. You can count on Reindeer for safe and secure transport with every vehicle we move.