Scammed on Facebook Marketplace in Canada? Your Step-by-Step Plan

If you were scammed on Facebook Marketplace in Canada, do three things today: call your bank or card issuer, report the account to Meta, and file a report with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and your local police. Speed matters most with your bank, because a payment that is still in progress is far easier to stop than one that has already landed in a scammer's account.

Being scammed feels awful, and it is easy to freeze up or to spend the first few hours messaging the scammer in the hope they will do the right thing. They almost never do. This guide gives you a calm, ordered action plan for the first hour, the first day and the first week, with the same steps applying if you were scammed on Kijiji or any other local buy-and-sell site.

The first hour: stop the bleeding

Your goal in the first hour is to limit the damage. Do these in order.

1. Stop talking to the scammer. Meta's own Marketplace safety guidance says to stop communicating with the buyer or seller and report the suspected scam. Do not send "one more payment" to unlock a refund, a shipping deposit or anything else.
2. Screenshot everything before it disappears. Scammers often delete their listing or profile once they have your money. Capture the listing, the profile page (including the profile URL), every message, phone numbers, email addresses, and your payment confirmation.
3. Call your bank or card issuer. Use the number on the back of your card or on your bank's official website, not a number the scammer gave you. More on what to ask for in the next section.
4. Secure your accounts if you shared anything. If you clicked a link, typed a login, shared a verification code or sent a photo of ID, change your Facebook, email and online banking passwords right away and turn on two-factor authentication.

Call your bank: what to ask for depends on how you paid

How much you can get back depends almost entirely on the payment method. Here is what to know for the most common ones.

Interac e-Transfer

Be prepared for a hard truth. Interac's consumer FAQ states that once a deposit has been made there is no way to reverse the transaction, and it tells you to contact your bank or credit union about any transactions still in progress. So call immediately: if the scammer has not deposited the transfer yet, your bank may be able to stop it. Even if the money has landed, ask your bank to open a fraud file and note the recipient's details. For a deeper look, see our guide on whether an Interac e-Transfer can be reversed.

Credit card

Credit cards give you the most options. Ask your issuer whether the purchase qualifies for a dispute (often called a chargeback) and what evidence they need. If the scammer got your card details and made charges you never approved, that is an unauthorized transaction. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada explains in its guide to unauthorized credit and debit transactions that Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Interac have committed to protecting you against loss when your card is used without permission, and that you should contact your card issuer right away if you notice a suspicious transaction.

Cash, gift cards or crypto

These are very hard to recover. Still report them (to the gift card company or crypto platform as well as police), because your report can help link the scammer to other cases.

Report the scammer to Facebook Marketplace or Kijiji

Reporting will not usually get your money back, but it can get the account removed before it targets someone else, and it creates a record.

• Facebook Marketplace: open the listing or the seller's profile, tap the report option and choose the reason. Meta says you can report any seller who does not follow its Commerce Policies or Community Standards.
• Kijiji: use the report or flag option on the ad and add details about what happened. If you were scammed on Kijiji, the rest of this guide (bank, CAFC, police) applies exactly the same way. Our Kijiji scams guide covers the common patterns.

Report to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) collects fraud reports from across the country. According to the CAFC's report fraud and cybercrime page, you can report online at reportcyberandfraud.canada.ca, whether you are a victim or a witness, and you can choose to report anonymously. You can also call toll-free at 1-888-495-8501, Monday to Friday from 10 am to 4:45 pm Eastern time.

Two things to understand about the CAFC:

• It does not investigate your case. The CAFC is clear that investigation is the role of your local police. It supports law enforcement by keeping a central repository of reports.
• Your report still matters. The CAFC says reports can link crimes together in Canada and abroad, and can help progress or complete an investigation. A scammer who hit you probably hit others.

File a police report

The CAFC recommends contacting your local police as soon as possible if you have been a victim of fraud. A police report number is also something your bank may ask for, and it helps if you later go to court.

Many police services take non-emergency fraud reports online. In Toronto, the Toronto Police Service online reporting system accepts reports for fraud and theft, as long as the incident happened within the City of Toronto and you have a valid email address. An officer reviews each submission and may contact you for more information. If you live elsewhere, search your local police service's website for "online reporting" or call its non-emergency line.

Consider Small Claims Court (Ontario)

If you know who the scammer really is, for example a real local seller who took your money and never handed over the item, you may be able to sue. Ontario's guide to suing someone in Small Claims Court says you can sue for $50,000 or less (the limit rose from $35,000 on October 1, 2025), and you do not need a lawyer or paralegal.

Key points from the Ontario guide:

• You need the full legal name and address of the person you are suing. This is the big obstacle with anonymous scammers.
• In most cases, a claim cannot be filed more than two years after the incident.
• Filing a claim costs $108 for an infrequent claimant (fewer than 10 claims a year at the same court), and you can file online where eligible.
• Winning does not guarantee payment. If the other person does not pay, you have to enforce the judgment yourself, for example through garnishment.

Watch out for recovery scams

Here is the cruel part: once you have been scammed, you become a target for a second scam. The CAFC's warning on the recovery pitch describes fraudsters who contact past victims claiming they have recovered lost funds, but say you must pay an advance fee to get them back. Some pretend to be from a government department or law enforcement and ask for help with a "sting" operation. The CAFC has even warned about fraudsters using its own letterhead and logo.

The rules are simple:

• The CAFC and police will never ask you to transfer funds or make a payment of any kind.
• Never pay an advance fee to obtain a refund.
• Never give an unknown person remote access to your computer or phone.
• If you are unsure, hang up and contact your local police or the CAFC directly using numbers you look up yourself.

If you shared personal information: protect your identity

Some Marketplace scams are really identity theft scams in disguise, such as a "buyer" who asks you to verify yourself with a code, a photo of your ID, or your SIN. If you shared any of that, add a fraud alert to your credit files. Ontario's Steps to Justice guide on fraud alerts explains that you must contact Canada's two credit bureaus separately:

• Equifax: 1-800-465-7166
• TransUnion: 1-800-663-9980, or its online request form

Adding a fraud alert is free, and it stays on your file for six years. Anyone who checks your credit will see that your identity may have been stolen, so lenders can take extra steps to verify it is really you. Over the following weeks, pull your credit reports from both bureaus and look for accounts you did not open.

Your scam recovery checklist

How to make sure it doesn't happen again

Almost every Marketplace scam comes down to one problem: someone paid before they had the item in hand, or handed over an item before they were truly paid. The fix is to change the order of trust. Meet in a public spot (see our list of safe exchange zones in the GTA), inspect the item, and use a payment method that protects both sides.

That is exactly what LockNDeal was built for. The buyer locks the payment before the meetup, LockNDeal holds the funds, and the seller is paid only when the buyer has inspected the item and entered the seller's 4-digit code. If the item is not as described, the buyer can request a full refund before entering the code. Sellers get proof the money is real before they leave home, and buyers never send money into the void. For more ways to stay safe, read our complete guide to Facebook Marketplace scams in Canada.