Were you a victim of a national moving company conspiracy?

A moving company scheme defrauding more than 900 people by holding their furniture and belongings hostage, a federal prosecutor said Tuesday. And investigators think there are more victims.

Five people have been arrested. At least seven more arrests are pending. Seven warehouses across the country, including one in West Chester, have been locked down by federal agents.

U.S. Attorney Benjamin Glassman said scammers operated in at least 10 states, but added that investigators believe there are many victims who have not yet come forward. He said there could be victims in every state.

The scheme was simple. Glassman explained the group would offer a low binding estimate for the moving work, then once the items were loaded on a truck, the suspects would demand more money.

Investigators said the scheme was carried out hundreds of times between April 2013 and July 2018.

"Imagine how vulnerable of a position these customers were in," Glassman said.

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The group would sometimes threaten to auction off the victim's belongs, if they didn't pay, investigators said. Glassman reported that, in some instances, the belongings were never delivered.

These practices garnered a lot of complaints, and federal law requires a Department of Transportation permit to move property across state lines.

Inevitably, those permits were revoked, but Glassman said the group would continuously apply for new permits using fake identities to keep ahead of law enforcement.

Investigators said the group operated at least 14 companies, and agents want to hear from anyone who had bad experiences with these businesses:

• First National Moving and Storage
• Flagship Van Lines
• Independent Van Lines
• JBR Underground
• National Relocation Van Lines
• National Relocation Solutions
• Presidential Moving Services
• Public Moving and Storage
• Public Moving Services
• Smart Relocation Solutions
• Trident Auto Shipping
• Unified Van Lines
• United National Moving and Storage
• US Relocation Systems

In addition to bumping up their prices after loading people's belongings, Glassman said the group misled customers by posting ads which were "full of lies."

He said the suspects exaggerated the amount of experience the company had and created fake online reviews praising the company's work.

The five suspects arrested Tuesday include:

• Andrey Shuklin, 31, of Miami, Florida
• Phyllis Ricci Quincoces, 51, of Hollywood, Florida
• Vladimir Perstereanu, 28, of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida
• Roman Iakovlev, 31, of Charlotte, North Carolina
• Jessica Martin, 28, of Tamarac, Florida

The suspects will be extradited to Cincinnati to face trial in U.S. District Court. 

Arrests are pending for seven more suspects, whose identities have not be released. Glassman said more arrests could come as the investigation continues.

The arrested are being charged Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), which carried a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. This is the same act used to crack down on illegal mafia activities and illegally owned shell corporations.

The FBI and Department of Transportation's Office of the Inspector General are asking anyone who feels they may have been defrauded by this organization to call 1-800-424-9071 or email hotline@oig.dot.gov. Officials are also encouraging anyone who suspects they were defrauded by any moving company to report it.