Kijiji Teams Up with Interac to Finally Tackle Marketplace Identity Scams

Buying and selling stuff on Kijiji usually involves a fair bit of fingers crossed energy when meeting up with a stranger (you could say the same about any online classifieds platform). To help take the guesswork out of who you’re actually messaging, Kijiji and Interac are teaming up to bring ID verification to the platform.

The new feature uses Interac Verified, the same tech used by banks and the government, to confirm a user’s identity. While Kijiji has always had ratings and reviews, those only tell you if a person is a good seller, but not necessarily if they are who they say they are.

“Trust is the foundation of every transaction on our platform and we’ve always taken that seriously,” says Amanda Zeffiro, General Manager of Kijiji Canada, in a statement on Tuesday. “Integrating Interac Verified solutions to bring verified identity to Kijiji is how we raise that standard, giving Canadians the confidence to transact with people they’ve never met.”

Starting today, you can verify your account if your bank is part of the Interac network. Later this year, Kijiji plans to add a second option where you can scan a government ID and do a “liveness check” (basically a quick selfie) to prove you’re a real person.

“Interac Verified solutions were built to bring the trust of the Interac network into identity verification and this collaboration compounds that trust with reach,” said Giles Sutherland, Head, Business Development, Interac, in a statement on Tuesday. “Millions of people transact on Kijiji every month. Putting verified identity at those moments is where it makes a real difference for Canadians.”

The idea isn’t to replace the current star-rating system, but to add an extra layer of safety. Once you finish the process, a verification badge will show up on your profile so other users know you’re the real deal.

Are you using Kijiji or Facebook Marketplace? Kijiji says it still gets over 1 million new listings every month.