Gumtree.com joins other brands such as Microsoft, HSBC and PayPal.com to raise awareness of online safety and provide helpful and practical advice on everything from transacting online through to common internet scams.

Keeping people safe while they’re online and guiding them through safe peer-to-peer interaction is at the heart of Gumtree.com.  As well as including comprehensive advice and guidance on the website, continuous investment in technologies and a dedicated safety and security team, the community website has recently developed the Gummies Guide; a new interactive safety hub. 

The Gummies Guide provides assistance to people who are lost, confused or just want some friendly help to trade safely.  It includes tutorials showing everything from how to stay safe online and meet with other site members safely, to how to upload your first post and find what you’re looking for on the site. 

Katie Kitiri, head of trust and safety at Gumtree.com added, “At Gumtree.com, we are all about enabling free trading between people in their own neighbourhoods, much like their local noticeboard.  To make sure that people have the best possible experience, we are committed to collaborating across the industry to help raise awareness of safety issues involved while dealing with strangers you meet online; so we are thrilled to join Get Safe Online which aims to do just that.”

Tony Neate, managing director of GetSafeOnline.org said, “Making sure internet users are aware of the risks and have the tools to help protect themselves is a challenging task. It needs cooperation from multiple stakeholders to be as effective and wide-reaching as possible – from individual internet users, through to businesses, technology providers, law enforcement and Government. Get Safe Online is delighted to welcome Gumtree.com on board to support our efforts and lend its expertise to the work we do.”

A joint initiative between HM Government, the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), Ofcom and private sector partners, Get Safe Online was launched in 2005 to provide user-friendly advice about online safety to UK consumers and micro-businesses. 

For further information about Gumtree visit www.gumtree.com