Are there any issues with the message/email/reply system?

My Kijiji Account Unable to Send or Receive Replies from other Users
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1

Hello all,

Kijiji power user since day 1, 100% understand how everything works. (note I have a few accounts this isn’t my personal or oldest one)

My last 8 posts in various categories were are all hit with same thing. instantly after reply I get direct, personal emails about the AD sent directly to my (gmail) that is associated with the account totally bypassing the messaging system.

on a few I got annoyed and replied directly asking how they bypassed, some replied that they used the internal box before going dead - others were sending phishing attempts.

I’m well aware of the “scams”, links etc. Honestly this is the first time in what? a decade? that I ever have an issue with kijiji as normally it just works. as such, you can feel when something is off? if that makes sense.

Can someone go poke a few of my ADs with maybe just “test” and we can see if anything is wrong and maybe i’m the first to bring it up by chance?

Thanks!

EDIT: link to the profile might help eh? jesus…<_<

2

Hi there,

Thank you for reaching out to us about this. I completely understand how concerning and unsettling it can be to receive a direct email or text message about your listings when your contact details are supposed to be safely anonymized. Your privacy and peace of mind are incredibly important to us, and I am more than happy to help clarify what might be happening here.

While Kijiji works hard to keep your contact information hidden, receiving a direct message outside of our secure system usually points to one of two external scenarios:

Scenario 1: Account Compromise via External Data Breaches

Scammers may gain access to a user’s email or account credentials from a historical, third-party data breach. Rather than using the hijacked account maliciously right away, they will quietly look through active ads and profile details, copy the direct contact details, and reach out directly pretending to be an interested buyer to lure you off-platform.

Scenario 2: Public User Name Matching (No Account Hack Required)

Alternatively, scammers do not even need to compromise your account. If your public Kijiji User Name/Profile Name is set to your real name, an email handle, or a name you use on other platforms, scammers can:

  1. View your active ad and copy your public profile name.
  2. Cross-reference your name with publicly leaked third-party databases to find your corresponding email address.
  3. Send a scam email directly to you referencing the specific item you are selling.

How to Secure Your Information Right Away

To protect yourself against both of these tactics, we highly recommend taking the following steps immediately:

1. Change Your Public Kijiji User Name

  • Go to your profile settings and change your display User Name to something generic (e.g., a nickname or just your first name) that cannot be easily linked back to your personal email address, social media, or other online accounts.

2. Check for External Data Breaches

  • We suggest visiting Have I Been Pwned and entering your email address. This is a secure, widely trusted public resource that will show you if your email address has ever been compromised in a third-party data breach.

3. Update Your Passwords Immediately

  • If your email has been flagged in a breach—or even if you just want to be extra safe—please update your passwords right away.
  • Keep them unique: We strongly advise that your Kijiji account and your personal email address do not share the same password.

Please rest assured that we are constantly updating our security measures to keep our community safe. If you suspect your Kijiji account has been accessed by someone else, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our support team directly so we can help you secure it.

Thank you for staying vigilant, and please let us know if there is anything else we can do to support you!

3

you cut and paste a generic reply but didn’t bother do do a single thing I even asked in the post.

Thanks for not helping when you could have just clicked and sent a msg to verify.

4

Hi Etoile. I too went through the same thing a few weeks ago. Kijiji has made it almost impossible to complain directly. I finally found this forum and got the same cut and paste reply from Rob, (sorry Rob), but in the end Rob did come through. I posted a couple of ads within a couple of days of each other and within 1 - 2 minutes I had responses to my personal Gmail account, not through Kijiji. Didn’t really shock me because the last couple of months I can’t reply to Kijiji message through email because they come up blank to the person that sent me the message. I have to use the app on my phone to respond, so I thought this was another glitch. In my case I posted a window for sale and had 2 immediate messages. I responded to both, got another email asking me a question from one and responded. 5 minutes later I get a email saying transaction confirmed, click on link to arrange delivery. All very Kijiji looking. The second ad was for a free Xbox cooler. Whitin 1-2 minutes I have an email asking about the condition. I respond and a few minutes later I get an email saying sale confirmed for $44, click on the link. No way in hell would I click on these links even though It looks like Kijiji. Rob was right about one thing in the cut and paste response. Check out Have I been Pawned. I used my real name on Kijiji because I thought it inspired trust. Worked for a lot of years but is now a downfall. I checked Pawned again and nothing new, but my email has leaked 6 times in 10 years, no passwords, but my email is out there, which is in my real name. Just don’t how they can do it that fast, and I want their computer system. In the end I provided Rob with a lot of screenshots of email addresses and links which he forwarded to be banned. If you’re reading this Rob could you please make a suggestion to the Hierarchy, An Email address to forward the emails instead of screenshots. Took a lot of time for something that should be so simple.

But anyways Thanks for the help Rob, and good luck Etoile

5

Thanks for the reply! yes it is pshishing attempts with those direct replies don’t click. I work in IT as well, so know these things and that’s why I was saying - you can feel when something isn’t quite right after decades of usage.

If they won’t help let’s help each other then, can you pop over to my profile i put my link in the 1st post and click any ad and just send me a message in reply to the ad via the official kijiji messaging?

let’s see if it pings, emails etc when someone deliberately goes to message and try. If you give an ad link for yours i’ll happily do the same as a reverse test.

Maybe we can solve this for ourselves. thanks!

6

we just did a messaging test and now it seems to be working correctly.

note: people will try to msg you directly!! all those reading after this -the emails straight to your mailbox with no message here on kijiji (unless you have a biz account they work differently!) are a SCAM do NOT click the “sold” or “listing” they reply with. it is a pshining attempt.

Still be vigilent! but at least we can now confirm the internal messaging system is working with emails going out as they should as of this post.