‘James Wood’ Hacker Warning is Yet Another Hoax

The claim

Please tell all the contacts in your messenger list not to accept friendship request from james wood. 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

Yet Another Silly Friend Request Hacker Hoax

The supposed warning is not valid. Sharing it will help nobody and there is no genuine security threat like the one described.

Instead, the message is yet another example in a seemingly endless stream of very similar hacker hoaxes. Such “friend request hacker” hoaxes have been circulating the Internet in various forms for many years.

Pranksters tend to use an existing hoax as a template, plugin a new name for the alleged hacker, tweak some details, and launch a brand new version of the hoax. Note this version’s similarity to a previous hoax that claimed – again falsely – that one Jaden K. Smith was the dastardly friend request hacker :

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.

And, the Jayden K. Smith version was itself derived from a long line of similar hacker hoaxes.

‘Hacker” Scenario Described is Not Valid

The scenario described in these messages is technically impossible. Criminals use a range of methods to fool people into giving up access to their accounts. They might, for example, trick you into installing malware that allows them to take control of your computer. Or they might use a phishing attack to trick you into sending them personal information such as usernames and passwords, which would, of course, allow the criminals to access your account.

However, even the smartest criminal 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.

Hoax May Damage The Reputation Of Innocent People

“James Wood” is a common name and is likely shared by many people around the world. Thus, sharing this spurious nonsense could unfairly damage the reputation of innocent people who just happen to share the name of the supposed hacker.

Do not take any of these silly hacker warning messages seriously. If a message claims that just accepting a friend request will, by itself, give a hacker access to your computer, it should be regarded as a hoax.