Rental Scams on Kijiji
Kijiji is Canada's largest classifieds platform, owned by Adevinta. The site is widely used for rental listings across all Canadian provinces. Like Craigslist in the US, Kijiji's open posting model means anyone can list a property without verification, making it a frequent target for rental scammers targeting Canadian renters.
Common Scam Types on Kijiji
Long-Distance Landlord Scams
Scammers claim to be living outside Canada (often citing work or missionary assignments abroad) and offer to mail keys once a deposit is received via e-Transfer or wire. They use stolen photos from legitimate listings and provide fake identification documents.
Interac e-Transfer Deposit Fraud
Because Interac e-Transfer is the most common payment method in Canada, scammers specifically request deposits via e-Transfer, which are often auto-deposited and extremely difficult to reverse once sent. Victims lose their deposits with no recourse.
Hijacked MLS Listings
Scammers copy listing details and photos from REALTOR.ca or MLS and repost them on Kijiji as rentals. The properties may actually be for sale, or the scammer may use a rental listing from a different platform under different contact information.
Student Housing Scams
International students arriving in Canada are frequent targets. Scammers post listings near universities at attractive prices, knowing that international students may need to arrange housing before arriving in the country and may not know local market rates.
Fake Landlord References
Scammers provide fake references and fabricated tenant agreements to appear legitimate. When victims call the references, they speak with accomplices who confirm the scammer's identity. The entire operation is orchestrated to build false trust.
How Kijiji Actually Handles Listings and Reports
Kijiji is a classifieds platform, not a booking or payment service. Rental ads are posted directly by users and go live largely automatically, without any upfront verification that the poster owns or controls the property. There is no identity check tied to a listing and no escrow, so the platform sits between you and the person you are talking to only as a message relay, not as a party to any money that changes hands.
Moderation on Kijiji is primarily reactive and community-driven, which is why the flag button matters. When you report an ad, Kijiji's review team looks at it against its posting policies; an ad is only removed if it is found to actually violate those rules, so an accurate report reason speeds things up and a careless one slows every report in the queue. Importantly, Kijiji states that its Help Desk customer-support channel cannot review or remove listings, so contacting support instead of flagging the ad does nothing to take a scam down.
Step-by-Step: Reporting a Suspicious Kijiji Ad
To report a listing, open the ad and scroll to the bottom to the seller details under the "Listed by" section, then click "Report Ad." A menu of reasons appears; for a rental fraud attempt choose the "Scam / Prohibited" option rather than a generic category, because the reason you pick routes the report and affects how fast it is actioned. Use the "Tell us more" free-text field to describe exactly what is wrong, for example that the "landlord" refuses in-person viewings, is out of the country, or demanded an e-Transfer deposit before a showing.
You do not need to worry about flagging an ad you are unsure about. Kijiji notes that a flag will only cause removal if the ad genuinely breaks its rules, so an honest report on a borderline listing carries no penalty for you. If a specific user is harassing you or pressuring you in chat, you can also report or block that user from within the reply thread, which is separate from reporting the ad itself.
What Kijiji Protects You From, and What It Does Not
Kijiji's real protection is informational and after-the-fact: it publishes safety guidance, removes ads that are reported and confirmed to violate policy, and can suspend abusive accounts. Its own advice centers on meeting face-to-face and viewing the property in person before you pay or sign anything, because that single step defeats the most common scam structure, in which a fraudster invents a reason the deal cannot happen in person.
What Kijiji does not do is guarantee your money. There is no buyer protection for the private, in-person or e-Transfer payments typical of rentals, and once you send an e-Transfer, wire, or cryptocurrency it is effectively gone; Kijiji explicitly warns against these before you have seen the place. It also warns that deposits paid to hold a rental are often non-refundable and generally should not be paid sight-unseen. Treat the platform as a place to find listings and a channel to report bad ones, not as a party that will recover a lost deposit for you.
Safety Tips for Kijiji
- ✓Never send an Interac e-Transfer for a rental deposit before viewing the property in person.
- ✓Verify property ownership through provincial land title offices (e.g., Ontario's Land Registry Office or BC's Land Title and Survey Authority).
- ✓Be extremely cautious of landlords who are overseas and cannot show the property.
- ✓Cross-reference the listing on REALTOR.ca to check if the property is actually for sale.
- ✓Meet the landlord in person at the property and ask to see ID matching the property ownership records.
- ✓If you are an international student, use your university's housing services as a starting point.
How to Report Scams on Kijiji
Report suspicious listings using the 'Report Ad' button on the listing page. File a report with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca.
Report a Scam →Kijiji Scam Risk Level
High RiskKijiji is rated as high risk for rental scams. The platform's open posting model and limited verification make it a frequent target for fraudsters. Exercise extreme caution and verify every listing independently before engaging.
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