How Common Is Moving Fraud? What the Federal Data Shows

“Is this common, or did it just happen to me?” is a fair question after a bad move. The honest answer: moving fraud is common enough that the federal government runs recurring nationwide enforcement against it — but the public numbers measure complaints and enforcement, not a clean “scam rate.” This page lays out what the data actually shows. It is general information, not legal advice.

Complaints run into the thousands

Federal complaints about interstate movers and brokers go to FMCSA’s National Consumer Complaint Database (NCCDB), which feeds the agency’s decisions about which companies to investigate.^[3] The reported volume is substantial — moving complaints have numbered in the thousands annually in recent years — though a complaint count measures reported problems, not every move; the great majority of moves are completed without fraud. Even so, the volume is large enough to sustain dedicated federal enforcement.

Federal sweeps have found violations by the thousand

FMCSA runs a recurring enforcement effort called Operation Protect Your Move, aimed at fraudulent interstate movers and brokers.^[2] According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, the 2023 operations found more than 1,000 violations of FMCSA’s regulations, and the agency issued letters of probable violation and revoked operating authority; the Department of Justice also filed a civil penalty case stemming from that work.^[1]

What the numbers do — and don’t — tell you

The most useful response to “how common is it” is not a statistic but a habit: knowing the rules and verifying the company before booking. That is the subject of how to not get scammed by movers. If a move has already gone wrong, movers scammed me — what to do lays out the ordered path.

Last reviewed: June 10, 2026