Auto Transport Scams and Pro Tips to Avoid Them

Many transporting companies provide safe and secure options for vehicle transportation but filtering out these websites can be difficult for customers, causing them to lose their cars and money. Nowadays, there are many ways you can get scammed, so we have decided to ensure your car shipping deal remains secure from these scams. Take a look at how these scams work, and the different approaches scammers use to scam customers. In the end, we have also discussed tips to avoid these auto shipping scams to get a smooth auto transport experience.

How does Auto Transport Scam Work?

Auto Transport scams report a regular increase and decrease in the number of victims of these shipping scams. These scams are operated on different models, some of them create fake websites with the name of a Transporting company but don't deliver the vehicle to the location or demand more money after delivery than originally agreed upon on their website.

Demanding over-price for poor services and advance payment are the main tactics of scammers to start their fraudulent schemes. Individuals often fail to recognize these fraudulent websites as they are advertised on various platforms to build trust in the victims' minds.

It is very crucial to do in-depth research about the transporting company before shipping your vehicle. Read our detailed guide to avoid these scams.

Different Types of Auto Transport Scams

There are different types of scams used to target auto transport customers in several ways. 

Car Shipping Price Scams:

Many individuals are looking to transportation companies for the transport of their vehicles in different states. In search of cheap prices, they came across these fraudulent websites that demand advanced payment to ship their vehicle but do not offer any transportation services, as they are fake.

As long as the payment hasn't been made, they keep demanding payment clearance and often contact customers through email and customer support to fulfill payment to deliver the vehicle. Once the payment is confirmed, their contact number is turned off.

Unknown Driver Scam:

Some of these Auto Transport companies don't provide enough data about their transportation process because they are not direct carriers. Many of these Transport companies connect with different transporters to fulfill their vehicle transport order and haven’t their carrier system.

Some of these companies use fraudulent tactics to get more money from customers.  These companies offer poor services by delaying your vehicle transportation as they have already mentioned, if a customer cancels his order within a certain number of days, they may not get their deposit back.

These scam operators vanish your hard-earned money in different options. They will demand extra money to expedite the shipping of your car or another way is to cancel your order, resulting in the loss of the Initial deposit.

Hidden Damage Scams:

There are huge numbers of cases where vehicle bodies get damaged during the transportation process due to the narrow and limited space and negligence during loading and unloading from the container.

Reputable companies offer insurance to their customers for better customer experience. But these scammer websites offer cheap transportation services to grab the customers and try to manipulate customers by transporting their vehicles at night time to hide vehicle damages.

If your vehicle is transported to your location, make sure to deep-check your vehicle's current body condition and hidden damages, as hidden damages can often occur, even during the unloading process.

Once you sign the bill of lading; the carrier unloads the vehicle and leaves, and you are unaware of these hidden damages; these companies will not take any responsibility for the damages caused by their negligence and poor safety practices.

Additional Transportation Fee Scam:

Many customers place their vehicle transportation order with auto shipping websites at a fixed transportation cost but some of the websites have hidden fees that are shown just after you place an order or after the vehicle is delivered to your location, they demand an additional amount in term of fee to get your vehicle delivered.

Be aware of and clarify the actual costs and charges including taxes, fees, service charges, and more while placing your vehicle transportation order.

Insufficient Insurance:

Reputable and Trusted Transport companies offer insurance for your vehicle damages caused while transporting of your vehicle. These reputable companies offer Exterior Damage, Interior damage, and Theft insurance coverage.

But when it comes to the scammer transportation companies, they list Insurance coverage offerings on their website and Online Advertisement but when customers want to claim the insurance in case of any damage during vehicle shipping, they do not have any such coverage leading to customers’ money loss by this misinformation.

Fake Transportation Scam:

There are millions of Online advertisements posted every day on different platforms; scammers also advertise on these platforms and create fake websites to catch their potential customers who want to transport their vehicles at cheap prices.

Once the customer gets connected to their website, they try to get the customer's personal information through these scammy links.

Fake Reviews and Testimonials:

Many service-providing companies are using fake reviews and customers’ feedback to get the trust of new customers.

They show fake positive reviews created by themselves on their website, social media, and review platforms to gain the trust of potential customers.

However, it is very difficult to figure out these fake reviews but when the website's reviews are created within a short time or if all reviews have similar posting times, then please avoid these websites. Fake reviews often contain short details about the company's services such as what the reviewer liked about the company.

Many fake reviews also repeat similar sentiments across different platforms by repeating positive reviews with using different words.

How to Avoid Auto Transport Scam

Verify their Business Location

Every industry website has at least its physical address and company location but the scammy websites don't have any physical address, they provide misleading addresses on their website and social media platforms. While choosing a website for vehicle transportation make sure to check their location and also ask them for their business address; if they don't have any physical address then consider it as a risky option to select transportation services with them.

While placing an order you have to manually check these websites by visiting their business location and reading customer's reviews and ratings on Trustpilot or similar platforms to minimize the risk of getting scammed.

Choosing Registered Service Providers

In most of the cases, these unregistered service providers are scammers trying to scam individuals. These companies have scammed many customers before and have not been recognized by government agencies.

While choosing a company make sure to check out registered service providers with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. These companies are registered with government agencies that keep tracking records of their activities.

Make sure to ask them for their 12-digit motor carrier (DOT) number and check the number on the FMCA official website to make sure they are registered.

Avoid Below Market Rates:

When it comes to cheap transportation options everyone wants cheap rates to avoid an expensive transportation budget. The scammers try to manipulate to grab customers by these cheap price tactics, if the website is providing rates that do not match any market value consider these websites as potentially fraudulent, they would probably scam their customers using one of the methods discussed above.

Check Drivers Details:

While transporting a vehicle; in many cases the vehicle body gets damaged by the driver's due negligence. While transporting a vehicle you should carefully check the company drivers' qualifications to ensure vehicle safety. The reputable companies are ready to provide the driver's details for seamless customer experience.

At the time of vehicle transportation, it is very important to check for hidden damages on the vehicle body that are caused by the carelessness of drivers.

Avoid Payment Methods Wiring Money or Prepaid Debit Cards:

The scammer's websites give users false information about their services and try to impress them to pay upfront. If any transportation services website offers too much upfront payment before car delivery, consider it a red flag. You should avoid using wire transfers Zelle, MoneyGram, or Western Union for payment, as scammers prefer these methods, making it difficult for you to recover your money if they don't provide the services.

Instead, use a credit card, debit card, PayPal, or a trusted and secure payment method to avoid getting scammed by these fake auto shippers.

Trusted service providers:

Reputable service-providing companies prefer secure payment methods and won't ask for huge upfront payments they will request full payment only when the vehicle is delivered to your location.

What to do if you get scammed

If any customers fall victim to these fake websites and get scammed. Make sure to report all the details to the Federal Trade Commission they are responsible for protecting victims if get scammed. However, the Federal Trade Commission may not be able to recover your money by providing details of all the scamming methods used against you may help authorities to investigate and take action against these scammers. FTC has also a dedicated section to educate victims to get their money back.

If these methods don't help, reach out to consumer protection agencies or the Attorney General’s office to report scams to these agencies to investigate these scammy and fraudulent service-claiming websites that became a cause of losing victims hard-earned money. Make sure to file complaints on all these consumer protection agencies including, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and the Department of Transportation.

If for some reason there is no solution to get your money back, inform others about these websites, ‘‘how they scammed you”. This will help others to stay safe from these websites.

FAQs on Auto Transport Scams

1. How can I verify if an auto transport company is legitimate?

You can verify a company's legitimacy by checking if it is registered with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and has a valid USDOT number. Also, look for authentic customer reviews on BBB (Better Business Bureau), Trustpilot, and Google Reviews to ensure their credibility.

2. What are the red flags of an auto transport scam?

Common red flags include:

• Demanding large upfront payments or wire transfers.

• Unrealistically low prices that don’t match industry standards.

• Lack of a physical address or proper contact details.

• No valid FMCSA registration or DOT number.

• Fake customer reviews that are overly positive and vague.

3. How do scammers trick people with fake auto transport websites?

Scammers create professional-looking websites and post fake reviews to appear trustworthy. They offer low prices to attract customers, demand upfront payments, and then disappear without transporting the vehicle. Some also impose hidden fees or claim damages are not their responsibility after transport.

4. What should I do if I suspect I’m being scammed by an auto transport company?

If you suspect fraud:

• Stop communication with the company.

• Dispute the payment if paid via credit card or PayPal.

• Report the scam to the FMCSA, Better Business Bureau (BBB), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Attorney General’s Office.

• Warn others by leaving reviews on scam-alert websites and social media.

5. How can I safely pay for auto transport services?

Use credit cards, debit cards, or PayPal for secure payments, as they offer fraud protection. Avoid paying via wire transfers, Zelle, MoneyGram, or Western Union, as these are often used by scammers and make it difficult to recover lost funds.