Shut the hell up about Facebook friend requests from Jayden K Smith
If you use Facebook at all, you have almost certainly seen warnings recently that make reference to Jayden K Smith. You've probably not only been warned about this "hacker" but also been advised to make everyone you know aware of the danger they pose.
"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," reads the message. It is -- of course -- utter nonsense, yet it is being shared far and wide. Stop it. Stop it this instant.
The hoax is a variant of a scam that has been doing the rounds for quite some time. Before the days of social media, similar messages were sent out via email, but now it's easier and faster to scam people than ever, thanks to the power of Facebook.
Do-gooder after well-meaning do-gooder is only too keen to pass on the "helpful" advice to everyone they know. Some recipients of the message will go ahead and pass it on yet again, while others will roll their eyes as the same stupid warning hits their inbox or timeline for the twentieth time.
This is not a new warning. It has been around for -- literally -- years. The wording and the names may have changed, but the basic idea is still very much the same; you may see references to -- as Snopes advises -- Christopher Davies, Jessica Davies or Anwar Jitou.
It is nonsense. Codswallop. Bunkum. Ignore it. Ignore it. Ignore it. Do not share the information with your friends -- you're not doing them a favor, you're just irritating the hell out of them.
But will people take notice? Will they f...
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