Mike Rowe Instagram – I’ve heard from hundreds of people this week, wondering if this invitation from Mary Sullivan was legitimate. It’s not. Nor is it unusual. This particular scammer has hacked into my business partner’s account and sent out thousands of invitations to contact me directly, at a gmail account that is not mine. It’s annoying, obviously, and clearly fake. (Mary would never use multiple emojis.) Not as annoying as that ad for an erectile dysfunction medication that used my name and likeness several years ago – or the lengthy but completely concocted interview that accompanied it – but annoying, nevertheless. Obviously, Instagram is powerless to stop these scammers, and no number of warnings from me has proven sufficient to convince the masses that I will “Never Invite Anyone to Contact Me Personally on Social Media.” Not much else to be done, I guess, then to repeat that promise once again, and encourage you all to be highly skeptical of anything you read or see on the Internet, period. It also really makes me wonder how anyone could welcome the advent of unfettered Artificial Intelligence, until or unless we first figure out how to eradicate scammers and eliminate identity theft as it stands today. There’s absolutely no reason to believe that deep fake technology won’t be immediately and profoundly abused, the moment it’s widely available. On the positive side, it allows me to now assure you, that anything you see or hear me say that you deem offensive or objectionable, is not really me. Carry on, Mike (as far as you know.)