EAGLE MOUNTAIN — Three California men are behind bars after authorities say they tried to con an Eagle Mountain woman by posing as workers for a nationally known moving company.
The woman became suspicious when the men who showed up to move her belongings to her new home in South Carolina tried to charge her $5,100, almost three times the original bid, according to an affidavit filed in 4th District Court. They told her the items weighed more than they had planned.
Their truck had no registration, and although it bore a decal for Atlas Van Lines, and one of the men even had on an Atlas shirt, when the woman called to check she was told they were not affiliated with the company, the affidavit states.
A Utah County sheriff's officer arrived and questioned the men. They said they worked for a man named George but did not know his last name, according to the affidavit. Reached by phone by the officer, "George" said his was a separate company with the same name.
An attorney for Atlas Van Lines, based in Indiana, said similar operations have cropped up across the country in the past year and are soiling the company's name.
"Unfortunately, since we are reputable, there are people out there that want to (pretend to be us)," said the attorney, Todd Suter. "But it's not Atlas."
Often, he said, people seeking a moving company on the Internet enter their information on a Web site that generates leads for scam artists. On moving day, the con men arrive, purporting to work for a registered company, load up a truck and demand a higher payment in cash.
"The Internet is a cesspool of trademark infringement," Suter said, adding that people should contact the company or local police if they doubt their movers are really associated with Atlas.
Some victims who threatened to notify the police never saw their possessions again, Suter said. He believes that may have happened in this case if the woman had not alerted authorities.
Zoher Awad, 26; Itzhak Taizi, 29; and Juventino Ruiz-Vazquez, 27, all of San Jose, Calif., were arrested for investigation of communications fraud, a second-degree felony.
They are being held in the Utah County Jail on $2,500 bail and immigration holds as officials try to determine if they are in the country illegally.
e-mail: pkoepp@desnews.com