How can I stop 'Date Russian women' scams?

QThe Promotions tab of my Gmail account usually includes a couple of messages at the top of the list that I can delete, but cannot block. Some are of the ‘Date Russian Women’ variety. Is there a simple, foolproof means of stopping these? John Lindley

AThese are adverts served up by Google, not messages. That’s why you’re able only to delete them. However, there are a few things you can do to either stop seeing these commercials or otherwise change the sort you see.

First, if you don't want any adverts masquerading as messages, or actual email messages that Gmail has identified as promotions, click the Settings cog at the top-right of the Gmail window, and then click ‘Configure inbox’. Clear the tick from Promotions, then click Save.

If you want to keep the Promotions tab but stop specific types of advert, then first click to open an offending commercial. Now click the Feedback button at the top of the advert and choose an option to tell Google why it bothers you, such as Inappropriate (see screenshot above).

Finally, you can also manage your Google advert settings, which will affect the kinds of commercials the company shows you in Gmail and other places. First, visit https://adssettings.google.com. For the nuclear approach just set the switch alongside ‘Ad personalization is’ to Off. If you’d prefer to keep some personalisation (see screenshot above) then, under the ‘How your ads are personalized’ heading, click the various tags to edit what you want Google to know about you.