The US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation has asked major United States search engine operators to examine how moving services are using search results to try “bait-and-switch” tactics on potential victims.
The committee found that customers who use search engines to locate moving companies are often subjected to the same tactics: they are confronted with “soundalikes” for reputable moving companies that are actually brokerage firms that charge exorbitant fees to set up the move. Unaware and trusting the search results, many victims have been pulled in and charged hundreds or thousands of dollars more than necessary by these unscrupulous companies.
The Senate involved the search engine providers because these companies seemed to appear at the top of all search engines with alarming regularity, leading to the conclusion that the companies had found a way around the natural safeguards that existed to prevent spam and disreputable vendors from exploiting the search engines. [Read more…] about United States Senate Asks for Help From Web Communities
