How to Avoid Getting Scammed Shipping a Car from Canada

We are a freight forwarder. Writing this is slightly against our own interest, because a few of these checks are ones a new company like ours has to work harder to pass. We think that is the point: if a shipper can't answer these, you should walk, and that includes us.

1. Check the company legally exists

Every Canadian business has a registration you can look up. Federal corporations are searchable free on Corporations Canada; provincial ones through the province's registry. Ask for the legal entity name — not the brand name — and search it. It takes two minutes.

A brand with no findable legal entity behind it is the single biggest red flag on this list.

2. Be very careful about insurance

This is the one most people get wrong, and it is the one we feel strongest about.

In Ontario, issuing an insurance policy or collecting a premium without an insurer's licence is an offence. A freight forwarder is not an insurer. If a forwarder offers to "add insurance to your invoice" and send you a certificate, ask which licensed underwriter is behind it and for the policy number — then check that insurer is real.

A certificate issued by an unlicensed forwarder may be worth nothing at the exact moment you need to claim on it: after your car has gone overboard. That is not a technicality. Buy your cover directly from a licensed marine broker, in your own name.

For the avoidance of doubt: we do not sell insurance. We will tell you what cover to ask for and hand your broker the shipment details they need.

3. Ask where the deposit goes

A business should be receiving business payments. An Interac e-Transfer to a company address is normal in Canada and perfectly fine. A request to send money to a personal name, to a third party "handling payments", or by crypto or gift card, is not.

Ask what happens if the shipment doesn't go ahead. A company that has thought about its business has an answer ready. A company that hasn't will improvise one.

4. Get the total, in writing, with the exclusions

The most common bad experience in this industry is not outright fraud. It is a quote that covers ocean freight and quietly omits terminal handling, destination charges, clearing agent fees and duty — so a number that looked competitive turns into a bill at the far end your consignee cannot pay, while storage accrues daily.

Ask specifically: what is not included? A straight answer names destination duty and taxes, terminal handling, and local clearing. If the reply is "everything's included", press harder — almost nobody includes destination duty, because it is assessed by that country's customs authority, not by the shipper.

5. Ask whether your car can actually enter the country

This is where real money gets lost, and it is almost never fraud — it is carelessness. Countries restrict imports by vehicle age, by which side the steering wheel is on, and by whether the title has been branded or written off. Get it wrong and your car arrives at a port it cannot legally leave.

A few examples of the kind of thing that catches people:

• Kenya, Tanzania and much of East Africa require right-hand drive — a normal Canadian car does not qualify.
• Nigeria prohibits right-hand drive outright, and non-ECOWAS cargo may only arrive by sea, never over a land border.
• Côte d'Ivoire refuses passenger cars over five years old — counted from first registration abroad, not model year, which catches people who check the wrong date.
• Ghana prohibits salvage and written-off vehicles, and Canadian auction stock carries branded titles routinely.

Ask your shipper what the rule is for your destination and where it comes from. "It'll be fine" is not an answer. Neither is a rule quoted with no source — plenty of companies confidently repeat limits that were legislated but never actually brought into force.

6. Understand who holds the Bill of Lading

The Bill of Lading is the document your consignee needs to collect the vehicle. It is also the shipper's leverage: most legitimate forwarders will not release the original until the balance is paid, and that is normal.

What is not normal is vagueness about it. Ask when you get it, in what form, and what happens if there's a dispute. Anyone who cannot explain this clearly has either never done it or is hoping you won't ask.

7. Ask for photos, and keep asking

You should get photographic proof at intake — before the vehicle is loaded — showing its condition. A company that photographs your car when it arrives at their warehouse is a company that expects to be held to a standard. One that resists is telling you something.

This also protects you: pre-existing damage documented at intake is damage you cannot later be blamed for.

8. Judge the reviews properly

A brand-new company with no reviews is not automatically a scam — everyone starts somewhere. A company with fifty reviews all posted the same week, all five stars, all vague, is worse than one with none.

Look for reviews that mention specifics: a port, a delay, a problem that got resolved. And look at how the company answers the bad ones — that tells you far more than the good ones do.

9. Trust the silence test

The most reliable signal we know is what happens after you pay.

A legitimate shipper tells you when your car reaches the warehouse, when it is loaded, when the vessel sails and when it arrives — without being chased. If a company goes quiet the moment your deposit clears, that is the warning sign, and it usually appears weeks before anything actually goes wrong.

Ask up front: what will you tell me, and when? Then hold them to it.

If something has already gone wrong

Report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and to your local police. If you paid by e-Transfer, contact your bank immediately — recovery is difficult but not always impossible, and speed matters. If the company is a real registered entity, you also have small claims court, which is inexpensive and does not require a lawyer.

This is general guidance, not legal advice, and the import rules mentioned change. Confirm the current position for your destination with a licensed clearing agent before committing money. Questions we didn't cover? Reach out.