You are not going to get hacked by someone called Jayden K. Smith. That is an absolute fact. Unfortunately, people will believe anything they read on social media these days. And so the legend of Jayden K. Smith, hacker extraordinaire, has taken hold. And it's your duty to stop it.

While there are undoubtedly people called Jayden K. Smith on Facebook, none of them are extraordinary hackers with the power to hack you if you befriend them. And yet a message warning people not to accept a friend request from Jayden K. Smith has somehow gone viral.

Jayden K. Smith Goes Viral

The message being sent is extremely simple in nature, being just a few lines warning against responding to Jayden K. Smith's friend request. And this simplicity has helped the message spread across various social networking sites for the past week. For the uninitiated, the 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."

The message then details how to pass this warning onto as many people as possible. Because that's the only way to stop this Jayden K. Smith fella from wreaking havoc across the internets. However, just like those chain letters sent through the actual mail years ago, it's all BS.

The whole Jayden K. Smith thing is completely made-up. And it turns out that this is just the latest iteration of a long-running hoax that can be traced back to at least the year 2000. Back before Facebook existed, but when emails would warn you not to add someone on a message board.

Snopes, which specializes in checking the veracity of news stories and social media posts, has traced the Jayden K. Smith hoax back to its roots. And it turns out that Jayden K. Smith is the latest boogeyman in a long line of boogeymen and women such as Anwar Jitou, Maggie from Sweden, Tanner Dwyer, Bobby Roberts, and Jason Allen. All of which are innocent bystanders.

This Actually Is Fake News

It is your duty to do everything you can to stop this misinformation from spreading. So if you receive the Jayden K. Smith message please reply to the sender telling them it's fake news and that they're gullible for believing it. Yes, even if it's your dear old gran who has fallen for the hoax. Alternatively you can send them a link to this article and let us do the admonishing.

Have you received this message about Jayden K. Smith? If so, did you pass it onto other people? Or did you see through it as a hoax? Do you ever use Snopes or one of the other sites dedicated to calling out this BS? Please let us know in the comments below!

Image Credit: Sean MacEntee via Flickr