On Nextdoor, I Verified My Home Address With a Postcard...
...Someone Stole My Family Business With Just a Gmail Account.
Last week, someone created a fake Nextdoor page impersonating my husband's business. They used a random Gmail address. No verification. No proof of ownership. Just typed in the business name and clicked "create."
Meanwhile, when I joined Nextdoor as a neighbor, I had to:
- Verify my physical address
- Wait for a postcard with a code
- Confirm my phone number
- Prove I actually live in my neighborhood
So Nextdoor will verify you live at 123 Main Street, but won't verify you own Main Street Construction?
Why You Should Care (Even If You Don't Own a Business)
If You're a Homeowner:
That contractor you found on Nextdoor? The one offering "neighborhood discount pricing"? How do you know it's actually them?
Answer: You don't.
Anyone can create a business page with a Gmail address. The real business has no idea someone is using their name to contact you.
If You're a Parent:
That childcare service advertising in your neighborhood feed? The one with great reviews?
Could be completely fake. No background checks. No business license verification. Just an email address.
If You Run a Local Business:
Someone can impersonate you right now. To your actual neighbors. Using your business name. For as long as it takes Nextdoor to "investigate" (spoiler: over a week).
If You Use Nextdoor for Anything:
The platform you trust to verify your neighbors doesn't verify the businesses advertising to you.
The Double Standard
TO JOIN AS A NEIGHBOR:
- Physical address verification (postcard with code)
- Phone number confirmation
- Proof of residence
- Takes 3-5 days to get verified
TO CREATE A BUSINESS PAGE:
- Email address (any email, including Gmail)
- Business name (any name)
- That's it
- Instant verification
One requires proving you live somewhere. The other requires... typing.
Our Story (It Could Be Yours Tomorrow)
Monday, September 22nd
I discovered someone created a fake page for my husband's business on Nextdoor. Not us. He owns that business. I manage it.
The fake page used "e***********s@gmail.com" - a random Gmail account.
Meanwhile, our ACTUAL business has:
- A legitimate business domain and website
- A legitimate business email at that domain
- A legitimate business phone number
- Years of documented operations in the Texas Hill Country
- Verified business registration with the State of Texas
- Established customer base and reputation
The impersonator used exactly ZERO of those things to create the page.
Just typed a name and a Gmail address. Copied our public business information. Done. Instant business page.
I reported it immediately with:
- Our business registration documents
- Our legitimate business domain
- Our legitimate business website
- Screenshots of the impersonation
Here's the insane part: The impersonator needed NONE of those things to create the page. Not our domain. Not our email. Not our phone. Not our website. Nothing. They entered a gmail unconnected to our official business, not having to verify the business forward-facing information (e.g., the real email and phone number!).
Nextdoor's response: "We'll investigate in 5 business days."
Well, here we are...
Eight days later.
Monday, September 30
Over a week after initially contacting Nextdoor, the fake page is still live. Still appearing in searches. Still able to:
- Message neighbors directly
- Post in neighborhood feeds
- Respond to service inquiries
- Represent themselves as our business
- Contact OUR potential customers
- Damage our reputation
- Do literally anything a "verified" business page can do
Yesterday, I escalated. Threatened BBB complaints. We have prepared legal action.
The person who stole our business identity? Nextdoor's privacy policy protects them. We can't get their IP address. Can't see when they created the account. Can't identify them for police reports.
The impersonator's privacy matters more than our business protection.
Three Things Most People Don't Know About Nextdoor
1. Business Pages Have Zero Verification
Unlike your neighbor who had to verify their address, businesses need:
- No tax ID confirmation
- No business registration check
- No domain email verification
- No license validation
- No actual connection to the business
- Unlike Yelp and competition, which requires you to answer a text or other verification means to the associated public-facing phone number, Nextdoor does not require that...
A Gmail address gets you in.
2. "Trusted Community" Doesn't Mean "Verified Businesses"
You see a business page on Nextdoor and assume:
- Someone verified they own this business
- The contact information is legitimate
- The person responding is actually authorized
- There's accountability if something goes wrong
None of that is true.
3. When Someone Steals Your Business Identity, You Wait
No immediate suspension of the fake page. No temporary removal pending investigation. No warning label for viewers.
The fraudulent page operates with full legitimacy while Nextdoor takes their time.
The Real Danger
Imagine this scenario:
Wednesday morning: A plumber named "Johnson" joins Nextdoor as a neighbor. Verifies his address with a postcard. Takes 3 days.
Wednesday afternoon: Someone creates "Johnson's Plumbing" business page. Uses throwaway Gmail. Takes 3 minutes.
Thursday: Fake page posts "Water heater special - 50% off this week only! DM for quote."
Friday: Three neighbors DM the fake account. Send home addresses. Schedule appointments. Some send deposits.
Saturday: The real Johnson's Plumbing has no idea any of this happened.
This exact scenario is possible right now. Nothing stops it.
What Nextdoor Could Do (But Doesn't)
Step 1: Require Business Domain Email
Instead of accepting any Gmail, require businesses to verify from their actual business domain:
- contact@legitimatebusiness.com ✓
- personalaccount@yahoo.com (personal email) ✗
- randomguy123@gmail.com ✗
Every legitimate business has a domain. Requiring verification from that domain stops impersonation instantly.
Cost to implement: Minimal. Email verification is standard tech.
Impact: Stops 90% of impersonation attempts immediately.
Step 2: Cross-Reference State Business Registries
Every legitimate business is registered with the Secretary of State. Match the business name to registration before allowing page creation.
Cost to implement: Affordable API integrations exist.
Impact: Confirms the business actually exists legally.
Step 3: Document Upload Requirement
Before page goes live, require one of:
- Business license
- Tax ID / EIN letter
- Articles of incorporation
- DBA certificate, if applicable
Cost to implement: Standard document review process.
Impact: Creates paper trail and accountability.
Step 4: Immediate Suspension for Reported Impersonation
When a verified business owner reports impersonation with proof, suspend the fake page immediately while investigating.
Cost to implement: Policy change, no tech needed.
Impact: Stops ongoing harm during investigation.
Current Nextdoor Implementation: None of the above.
The Questions No One at Nextdoor Will Answer
Q: Why verify neighbors but not businesses?
Nextdoor requires postcard verification to join as a neighbor, proving physical residence. But businesses - who can directly impact neighbor safety and finances - need only an email address. Why the double standard?
Q: Why does investigation take 5+ days?
A neighbor posts something inappropriate? Often removed within hours. A business is impersonated with documented proof? Investigation takes over a week while fake page stays active, a clear preference for protecting the perpetrator. Why?
Q: Why does privacy policy protect impersonators?
When a business owner provides legitimate documentation proving they own the business and requests information about who stole their identity, Nextdoor cites privacy policy. Why does the criminal's privacy outweigh the victim's right to pursue legal action?
Q: How many businesses have been impersonated on Nextdoor?
Nextdoor won't say. There's no transparency report. No accountability metrics. How widespread is this problem? I'll continue digging into this.
What This Means for You
You're a Neighbor Who Uses Nextdoor:
Every business you see on the platform could be fake. The reviews could be fake. The contact information could be fake. And you have no way to verify which is which because Nextdoor doesn't verify them either.
Before you hire any business from Nextdoor:
- Google their actual website independently
- Call a number you find on their website, not from Nextdoor
- Verify their business domain is legitimate
- Check business license with your city/county
- Never send money to someone you met only on Nextdoor
You're a Business Owner:
Someone could be impersonating you right now. To your actual neighbors. Using your business name.
Check monthly:
- Search your business name on Nextdoor
- Claim your official page before someone else does
- Document your legitimate contact information everywhere
- Set up Google Alerts for "[Your Business Name] Nextdoor"
You're Just Concerned About Platform Accountability:
Nextdoor built its brand on "trusted community" and "verified neighbors." But that trust doesn't extend to businesses, even though businesses have direct access to your home, your family, and your money.
The verification gap is the accountability gap.
Three Things That Should Happen
1. Nextdoor Should Match Its Business Verification to Its Neighbor Verification
If I need a postcard to prove I live somewhere, a business should need documentation to prove they operate somewhere.
2. Law Should Require Social Platforms to Verify Business Pages
We have consumer protection laws for almost everything. Time to add "verify that businesses on your platform are actually who they claim to be" to the list.
3. Users Should Know What "Verified" Means (and Doesn't Mean)
That green checkmark on Nextdoor? For neighbors, it means address verification. For businesses? It means... they typed something into a form.
Platforms should be required to explain exactly what verification does and doesn't include.
What We're Doing
Immediate:
- Filing police report for identity theft
- Contacted Nextdoor legal team directly
- Filed BBB complaint
- Notifying state Attorney General
- Published this article
- Developing sharable social media videos
Long-term:
- Advocating for platform accountability standards
- Documenting the business verification gap
- Warning other businesses before it happens to them
- Supporting legislation for social platform business verification
Legal:
- Pursuing charges against the impersonator
- Exploring liability claims against platform
- Creating case documentation for industry reform
The Bottom Line:
Nextdoor Doesn't Protect From Business Impersonation...
Nextdoor will send you a postcard to verify you live at an address.
But someone can steal your business identity with a Gmail account.
Your neighbor needs proof to say "I live on Oak Street."
But anyone can say "I own Oak Street Landscaping."
That's not verification. That's a vulnerability.
One Last Thing
This isn't about attacking Nextdoor. This is about asking a basic question:
If you're going to call yourself a "trusted community platform" and verify that people live where they say they live, shouldn't you also verify that businesses are who they say they are?
Especially when those businesses have direct access to your neighbors' homes, families, and finances?
Seems like a reasonable ask.
Share this if you:
- Use Nextdoor to find local services
- Own a business that could be impersonated
- Care about platform accountability
- Think verification should mean something
Written by a business owner's wife who manages operations in the Texas Hill Country.
Note: We've kept our business name anonymous in this article to prevent further targeting, but our experience is documented with police reports, correspondence with Nextdoor, and business registration records.
So far, articles I've found that elicit further Nextdoor concern:
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