How to Spot Fake Reviews for Moving Companies

Hiring a moving company is a big decision, you are about to entrust every item you own to people you have never met.

One of the first things people often do is check online reviews. Unfortunately, not all reviews are equal. The moving industry, like many others, is plagued by fake reviews, with the intent to mislead readers.

So, in this guide, we will discover how to tell if a review is fake or trustworthy.

Checklist to Spot Fake Reviews

• Look for unnatural or overly promotional language
• Check the reviewer’s name
• Watch for multiple reviews on the same day
• Only gushing 5* reviews are a big red flag
• Compare positive vs. negative reviews
• Avoid reviews with missing details
• Avoid review platforms where the company pays to be listed
• Trust your gut instinct

Top tip: On MoveAdvisor, you will see at the bottom of a company listing that there may be filtered reviews. Usually, although not always, this indicates that our algorithms suspect the review to be fake and therefore have not published it. Too many filtered reviews are usually a red flag, and extreme caution should be used when taking the other reviews at face value.

You may also like to read: Why Does MoveAdvisor Have a Review Filter? This article explains why we have a review filter and the red flags to watch out for.

Why Post Fake Reviews?

Fake reviews are often posted to sway your judgment. Fake reviews sit in two camps:

Positive fake reviews, usually written by the company (or paid services) to boost their rating and attract customers.

Negative fake reviews, often from competitors or disgruntled individuals looking to sabotage a company’s reputation.

In the moving industry, where trust and reliability are everything, these deceptive tactics can cost you time and money and cause you a whole lot of heartache.

You may also like to read: How to Avoid Moving Scams. Fake reviews are just one of the scams that people moving home fall for. In this guide, we highlight common home moving scams and how you can avoid them.

How to Spot Fake Reviews

1. Look for Patterns in the Language

One of the biggest giveaways of fake reviews is unnatural or overly promotional language. Often the language or words used are unnatural, often because they are written by marketing companies based overseas. Real customers typically use casual, straightforward language when describing their experience.

Watch for:

• Repeated use of the company name (“ABC Movers is the best moving company ever!”)
• Excessive adjectives (“fantastic,” “phenomenal,” “life-changing”) that sound like marketing copy
• Robotic or generic phrasing (“The service was satisfactory and met all expectations.”)

Tip:

Compare reviews across multiple platforms. If the same phrases keep appearing, they may be copy-pasted or AI-generated.

2. Be Wary of Multiple Same-Day Reviews

If a company suddenly gets a flood of 5-star reviews in a short time, especially with little substance, that’s a red flag.

Ask yourself:

• If they are an established company, how come they are getting so many recent reviews yet so few historic reviews?
• Very few companies have multiple trucks and teams that would generate multiple reviews every day of the week. So, how come they get so many daily reviews?
• Are the reviews generic?
• Do they lack details about the move (like dates, locations, or challenges)?

Reputable companies get reviews steadily over time. Multiple reviews in a very short space of time, or daily, often point to fake activity, especially if the company is new or has few previous reviews.

You may also like to read: How to Choose a Self-Storage Facility. Fake reviews apply not only to movers but almost anything you buy or any service you want. So in this guide, we explain how to choose a good storage unit and avoid shady storage companies.

3. Compare Positive and Negative Reviews

Sometimes, comparing negative reviews with the positive ones helps you find the truth.

Look for:

• Consistent complaints in negative reviews (e.g., hidden fees, broken items, lateness)
• Overly defensive positive reviews (“I don’t know why people are complaining…”)
• Reviews that contradict each other entirely, with no middle ground

If negative reviews seem detailed and credible, while positive reviews are vague and gushing, trust the former.

4. Watch for Missing Details

Genuine reviews usually include specific information, like what was moved, how long it took, how the crew behaved, and how issues (if any) were resolved.

Fake reviews often:

• Avoid giving dates or timelines
• Don’t mention specific aspects of the move (like packing, unloading, or pricing)
• Sounds like they could apply to any service company

You may also like to read: How to Choose a Good Moving Company. This is a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to help you choose the best mover for your relocation.

5. Check for Review Swapping

Some moving companies exchange fake reviews with other businesses or hire marketing agencies to post fake reviews across different platforms. It is amazing how often you see word for word reviews for different companies with different reviewer names.

How to spot this:

• The reviewer has also reviewed unrelated companies (like a dental clinic or clothing store) across the country with equally glowing praise
• The review often does not mention the company name; it will say “this mover”, so that it is interchangeable between companies.
• The review locations don’t match the company’s service area.
• If you see someone reviewing businesses in Florida, California, and New York all in the same week, that’s a red flag.

You may also like to read: How to Check a DOT Number: While having a DOT license does not stop a mover from posting fake reviews, it is another check you can do to ensure that they are properly licensed, and if there are any FMCSA complaints against the company.

6. Trust Your Instincts—and Verify Offline

If a company looks too good to be true, it probably is. Trust your instincts, but then confirm your doubts.

Do this:

• Look up their DOT number (for interstate movers) on the FMCSA website
• Check that they are a legally registered business on your local Secretary of State website (for local movers)
• On www.moveadvisor.com, you have the ability, in some cases, to contact the reviewer yourself, not many platforms offer that, so make use of it if you are unsure about a mover.
• You can also check local forums or neighborhood groups where members aren’t anonymous.
• Ask family, friends, or real estate brokers for their recommendations
• Trust nothing you are told, always verify it
• Use multiple platforms for your research
• Look at the review dates, old reviews from years ago are of little use, whilst only new reviews should be treated with caution

You may also like to read: Is It Safe to Hire Movers from Craigslist? In this guide, we look at the pros and cons of hiring movers from platforms such as Craigslist.

Marketers are getting better and better at producing fake reviews, and it is not an easy task to spot them.

You can never spend too much time researching any mover you are thinking of using, and reviews are just one tool in your arsenal.

The best you can do is trust your instinct, verify everything, and watch out for those filtered reviews.

Good luck with your move, and be sure to check out our home moving blog, which is packed with tips to make every aspect of your home move easier, cheaper, and safer.