My elderly neighbor who’s in her 80s uses Gmail for her email. She’s been getting lots of spam messages every day. These messages claim to be from Elon Musk, but they’re obviously fake. I’m not familiar with Gmail myself, so I’m not sure how to help her. Does anyone know some easy steps we can take to reduce or stop these annoying spam emails? I want to make her email experience less frustrating. Any tips or advice would be really helpful. Thanks!
hey there! have u tried setting up filters in gmail? its super easy - just go to settings, then filters and blocked addresses. u can create a filter to auto-delete emails with certain words like ‘elon musk’ or ‘cryptocurrency’. might help cut down on that annoying spam for ur neighbor!
Have you considered setting up some basic email rules for your neighbor? Gmail has a pretty straightforward system for this. You could create a rule that automatically moves any emails mentioning ‘Elon Musk’ or ‘cryptocurrency’ to the spam folder. It’s a quick fix that might catch a lot of those fake messages.
Another thing to consider is updating her email address settings. Sometimes old accounts are more prone to spam. You could help her change her password and enable two-factor authentication. This extra layer of security can help keep her account safer overall.
Lastly, it might be worth showing her how to spot and report spam emails herself. A bit of education goes a long way in preventing future issues. Good luck with helping your neighbor!
I’ve dealt with similar issues helping my own grandma, so I totally get your frustration. One thing that worked well for us was setting up a separate ‘safe’ email account just for important stuff. We kept her old Gmail for newsletters and whatnot, but created a new one for banking, family, etc. That way, even if spam got through on the old account, her important emails stayed clean.
Also, we installed an ad blocker on her computer. Surprisingly, it cut down on a lot of the sketchy emails she was getting. I think it stopped her from accidentally clicking on stuff that put her on spammers’ lists.
Lastly, don’t underestimate the power of a good old-fashioned chat. We spent an afternoon going through her emails together, showing her what to look out for. It took some time, but now she’s pretty good at spotting the fakes herself. Patience is key - good luck!