# How to report fraud? **URL:** \ **Category:** Buy, Sell, Trust and Safety\ **Tags:** issue\ **Created:** [August 30, 2026, 4:44pm UTC](https://community.kijiji.ca/t/how-to-report-fraud/6363 "2026-08-30T16:44:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Keith\_Upshall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Keith\_Upshall](https://community.kijiji.ca/u/Keith_Upshall)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2026, 4:44pm UTC](https://community.kijiji.ca/t/how-to-report-fraud/6363/1 "2026-08-30T16:44:32Z")
How to report fraud ? ---
**Author:** ![Rob](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/kijiji/user_avatar/community.kijiji.ca/rob/32/145_2.png) [@Rob](https://community.kijiji.ca/u/Rob)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2026, 8:00pm UTC](https://community.kijiji.ca/t/how-to-report-fraud/6363/2 "2026-08-30T20:00:12Z")
I am sorry to hear you encountered fraud on our platform Keith, I will send you a DM, so you can provide me the further details. ---
**Author:** ![Robert\_Somerleigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/65b543/32.png) [@Robert\_Somerleigh](https://community.kijiji.ca/u/Robert_Somerleigh)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 12:55am UTC](https://community.kijiji.ca/t/how-to-report-fraud/6363/3 "2026-09-07T00:55:15Z")
I checked my personal profile and found my email address which I want to remove. I tried but I couldnt remove it. The fraudsters contacted me by email, not through Kijiji Chat. I nned to get rid of my email address from my public profile!!! ---
**Author:** ![Robert\_Somerleigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/65b543/32.png) [@Robert\_Somerleigh](https://community.kijiji.ca/u/Robert_Somerleigh)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 12:56am UTC](https://community.kijiji.ca/t/how-to-report-fraud/6363/4 "2026-09-07T00:56:11Z")
What the hell is a DM ? ---
**Author:** ![Rob](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/kijiji/user_avatar/community.kijiji.ca/rob/32/145_2.png) [@Rob](https://community.kijiji.ca/u/Rob)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 1:53pm UTC](https://community.kijiji.ca/t/how-to-report-fraud/6363/5 "2026-09-07T13:53:37Z")
I can assure you Robert, your email is certainly masked and not displayed to the Kijiji community. 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! ---
**Author:** ![RenjiKuroha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@RenjiKuroha](https://community.kijiji.ca/u/RenjiKuroha)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 5:59pm UTC](https://community.kijiji.ca/t/how-to-report-fraud/6363/6 "2026-09-16T17:59:44Z")
> [@Rob](#): > > I can assure you Robert, your email is certainly masked and not displayed to the Kijiji community. 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. The second scenario is especially interesting because it shows how scammers can connect small pieces of publicly available information without ever accessing the Kijiji account itself. Keeping a profile name separate from other personal identifiers seems like a simple precaution that could make that kind of cross-referencing harder. After reading through the explanation, I’d take a short break and browse [https://4rabet-lives.com/](https://4rabet-lives.com/). ---
**Author:** ![Lisa6](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/kijiji/user_avatar/community.kijiji.ca/lisa6/32/3530_2.png) [@Lisa6](https://community.kijiji.ca/u/Lisa6)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2026, 7:46pm UTC](https://community.kijiji.ca/t/how-to-report-fraud/6363/7 "2026-10-12T19:46:29Z")
How do I report a buyer that stole my product. I met up with the buyer and he ran off with my product. ---
**Author:** ![Rob](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/kijiji/user_avatar/community.kijiji.ca/rob/32/145_2.png) [@Rob](https://community.kijiji.ca/u/Rob)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 1:39pm UTC](https://community.kijiji.ca/t/how-to-report-fraud/6363/8 "2026-10-13T13:39:09Z")
I’m sorry to hear you were a victim of a robbery Lisa, it was good that you brought this to our attention right away. I am going to send you a DM, so you can provide me with the full details.