Christopher or Jessica Davies Hacker Hoax Warning

This story was first published on December 8, 2009

The claims in this supposed warning are untrue. It is just one more in a long line of similar “hacker” hoaxes that substitute alternative names for the “hackers”. Even the most skilled hacker cannot take control of your computer just because you accept a friend request. For a hacking attempt to be successful, some sort of file transfer or exchange of information must take place. Sending on this nonsensical warning will help nobody.

This message, which circulates via Facebook and other social networking websites as well as blogs, forums and email, claims that hackers named Christopher and Jessica Davies are gaining access to people’s computers by fooling recipients into doing no more than accepting friend requests.

However, the information in this message is untrue. It is just one more in a long line of very similar hoax warnings that have no basis in fact. From time to time, some unknown prankster substitutes a new name for the supposed hacker before launching the hoax anew. As the following examples show, except for the name changes and a few other minor alterations, the variants of the hoax use the same phrasing and make the same false claims.

Example 1:

DO NOT ACCEPT a friend request from a CHRISTOPHER BUTTERFIELD he is a hacker. Tell everyone on your list because if somebody on your list adds him u get him on your list too and he’ll figure out ur computer’s ID and address, so copy and paste this message to everyone even if u don’t care for them cause if he hacks their email he hacks your mail too! SEND TO ALL FRIENDS. Copy and paste to ur page…

Example 2:

IF THIS PERSON CALLED SIMON ASHTON (SIMON_25_@HOTMAIL.CO.UK) CONTACTS YOU THROUGH EMAIL DONT ACCEPT HIM. DELETE HIM BECAUSE HE IS A HACKER!!

TELL EVERYONE ON YOUR LIST BECAUSE IF SOMEBODY ON YOUR LIST ADDS HIM THEN YOU WILL GET HIM ON YOUR LIST. HE WILL FIGURE OUT YOUR ID COMPUTER ADDRESS, SO COPY AND PASTE THIS MESSAGE TO EVERYONE AND FAST BECAUSE IF HE HACKS THEIR EMAIL HE HACKS YOUR MAIL TOO!!!!!..

In this case, the prankster has substituted two names – Christopher and Jessica Davies – rather than the usual one name. It is unclear what motivates these pranksters to create such bogus warnings. Perhaps they are malicious attempts to discredit or embarrass their victims. Or perhaps they are misguided practical jokes perpetrated by friends of those named in the messages. It is even possible that the pranksters simply make up the names used in these hoax messages.

All such hoax warnings are technically impossible. The messages suggest that just accepting a person – in this case, Christopher Davies or Jessica Davies – as a “friend” on your contact list will give the hacker access to your computer along with the computers of everyone else on your list as well. This is total nonsense. Hackers certainly do use a range of tactics to trick users into relinquishing access to their computers. Hackers might, for example, trick victims into installing trojan software that allows a computer to be controlled remotely. Or they might use a phishing attack to trick a victim into sending them personal information such as usernames and passwords, which would, of course, allow hackers to access their victim’s account. However, even the smartest hacker will not be able to hack your computer just by being added to your contact list. For a hacking attempt to be successful, some sort of file transfer or exchange of information must take place.

Regardless of the names used in these warning messages, all are equally invalid and they should not be taken seriously.

Note:

In March 2017, an alternative version of the hoax with extra “hacker” names began circulating via social media. At its core, this version is just as misleading and inaccurate as its predecessors. However, it does touch upon a security issue that Facebook users do need to be aware of. [ Read More ]