Ask The Expert: Get your questions about fraud answered

[AARPLynne]

Have you or a loved one been a target of an impostor scam? Savvy scammers can pose as government officials, a romantic interest, or even a grandchild.

AARP Fraud Expert Amy Nofziger is here now thru February 29 to answer your questions about protecting yourself, family and friends from impostor scams. Post below for your chance to have your questions answered or share your experiences. 

[AARPLynne]

Amy Nofziger, AARP ExpertAbout Amy: Amy Nofziger ("@anofziger17") of the AARP Fraud Watch Network has been helping older adults avoid and deal with scams for 18 years, most recently by managing the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline. She is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). Amy has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Consumer Reports, on Dr. Phil, and numerous other places to help shed light on the many types of scams and fraud.

[mimi0000]

I hope you can give me instructions on how to stop Gmail SPAM.  I am a 90

years old and receive an average of 20 UNWANTED Spams a day.  I never open them and I've never gone on a Porn site.  Also, many of my ligament have gone to 

my SPAM messages so I check SPAM daily.

[anofziger17]

@mimi0000It's frustrating, isn't it? I get them too and trash them right away. Most email providers have pretty good spam blockers/filters in place but some still come through. Here are a few tips

As you use "Report spam" on messages, email platforms gets better at auto-filtering them to the Spam label (Gmail doesn't have a Junk label).

If there is something common in the messages, you might consider going to Settings->Filters and create a filter to auto-delete them.  But you have to be VERY careful with your filter so it never matches any legitimate e-mail.

As you said, it's important to never respond to them or click on them. Trash and send to where they belong.