Don't Worry About Jayden K Smith

Reports that accepting a friend request from a "Jayden K Smith" on Facebook will get your account hacked are a hoax. It's still a smart idea to take care with Facebook friend requests, however.

As often happens, the hoax warning is circulating widely, likely being shared by people who believe doing so will help inform and protect their friends and family on the site.

One version of the hoax message reads "Please tell all the contacts in your messenger list not to accept Jayden K. Smith friendship request. He is a hacker and has the system connected to your Facebook account. If one of your contacts accepts it, you will also be hacked, so make sure that all your friends know it."

Hoax Is Old Chestnut

Snopes, a website dedicated to verifying possible hoaxes, notes that similar messages have popped up many times over the years under different names. (Source: snopes.com)

The claims are false as simply accepting a friend request does not put you at any specific risk or pass on the risk to a friend. The only direct risk from Facebook would be clicking on a link or downloading a file in a message or on a post. In those cases, it's possible that 'hackers' could exploit a security bug in a web browser or on the computer itself.

Attack, As Described, Not Possible

As for putting friends at risks - that's virtually impossible in the way the hoax message is described. A hacker would need to either trick the user into handing over Facebook login details, or remotely seize control of the user's computer and hope that their Facebook password is stored in plain text on the computer. Even then, they'd only be able to send bogus links and attachments to the user's friends, rather than automatically getting access to their accounts.

Why such hoaxes get started in the first place is unclear. It could simply be mischief making. Another theory is that somebody wanted to prank a friend (or enemy) by having their name attached to a hoax warning which then goes viral. (Source: telegraph.co.uk)

What's Your Opinion?

Have you seen any of your friends share the hoax? Did you (or they) believe it? Should Facebook message all its users to explain why they should ignore such hoaxes and how they can keep safe online?