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🚗 Avoiding Car History / Vehicle Report Scams

Typically, fraudsters will attempt to organize a transaction that is not face-to-face. They may try to trick you into paying for fake car history reports or other documents.

Here is an example of a common scam message you might receive:

Initial Reply:
"Oh thank you for your email. I like the car and it looks great. I am ok with the price so I will proceed with my bank loan. I will have to see the car. I will also bring my daughter with me so she will see it too. I will pay you cash after I inspect the car. Do you have all the service docs? Please tell me that you have all the papers for the sale? The bank will require the car history so they will approve my loan. Please reply and tell me if you have it, if not tell me so I will give info how to get it."

Follow-Up:
"Hello, my bank is asking for the car history with the seller name on it. Please go here and get it http://vin-audit.canalautos.com/. This service will cost you $10. I can refund you when we meet, or I can go now to Walmart and send the funds to you if you don’t want to pay from your own pocket. You can also choose other websites but all are asking over $30. You can get it even from a car dealer if you don’t want to pay online. Any of those reports are good but I will only refund you $10 because I found the cheapest one. Once you have it, please save it as a PDF and send it to me so I can forward it to my bank. I can meet within 48h after that, so please tell me when you can show the car."

This is a classic car history scam. The goal is to get you to pay for a fake or unnecessary report in advance.

🚨 Red Flags to Watch For

• Requests to pay for car history or service documents upfront.
• Links to unverified websites or services outside Canada.
• Offers to refund your money later, often with a story of urgency.
• Pressure to act quickly before meeting in person.
• Generic or overly complicated messages that don’t reference your specific car details.

🧠 Tips to Stay Safe

• ❌ Never pay for car history or service reports directly to a buyer.
• 🔗 Use trusted services like CARFAX Canada if a report is truly needed, and pay for it yourself.
• 📞 Verify any requests directly with your bank or lender — they will not ask you to pay via the buyer.
• 🏷️ Meet in person and verify all documents and the vehicle before exchanging money.
• 🔒 Keep communication on Kijiji to make it easier to report suspicious activity.
• 📝 Report any suspicious users here so Kijiji can block them from targeting others.

👍 Best Practices

• The gold standard is to meet the buyer in person and handle all payment and document verification face-to-face.
• If an offer seems too good to be true or the buyer asks for online payments for reports, walk away.
• Trust your instincts — if something feels off, it likely is a scam.