Maybe you’re tired of hearing me harp on this, but it keeps happening, so I have to keep reminding you. Your favorite country artist (or any celebrity, for that matter) has a blue check next to their name on their social media accounts. If there’s no blue check, it’s not the artist, it’s a scammer trying to take something from you.

Did you see this article out of Rock Hill, SC? A woman there told police that her sister spent two years sending cashier’s checks and gift cards to someone pretending to be Dierks Bentley on Twitter. They exchanged text messages over that two years, and she sent this fraud more than $160,000. That is not a typo.

Last year I had a conversation about this with Granger Smith, who has been really active in going after these fakes, including that time he actually pretended to be a country music fan on Twitter, baited the fakes, and then jumped into a conversation with one. And he said there’s something kind of obvious we have to start thinking about.

And you might remember earlier this summer when Blake Shelton and a bunch of others created this public service announcement reminding you that it’s bullshit.

Don’t think you’re alone in getting these, either. Just this week, I was followed by this fake:

First of all, artists do not have private social media accounts with which to contact you. Second of all, what is “officee?” Is it supposed to be Carrie’s private office?  Is it some new shorthand for “official?” Or is it maybe someone who doesn’t have a grasp of the English language but does have a grasp on the amount of fans who will do anything for their favorite artist, Carrie Underwood?

What you need to do when these accounts follow you, even before they make an attempt to contact you, is to report them and block them. AND NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER SEND THEM MONEY. Even if DIerks Bentley wasn’t making piles of money bigger than your house by touring and putting on music festivals and selling overpriced t-shirts at his shows, even if he somehow found himself unable to make the mortgage this month, you know who he’s gonna ask for help? NOT YOU. And not on social media.

Y’all. Let’s be smart about this. I don’t want your grandma to lose her life savings to some Nigerian prince who figured out who to use the internet to make a living, mmmkay? Cool.