The Unfriendly Facebook Friend Request

It’s illegal for convicted felons to possess deadly weapons, including handguns.

Which means it isn’t a good idea for them to post photos onto Facebook that show off their Smith & Wesson, or accept friend requests without knowing the requester, given that undercover investigators are in the habit of friending suspects.

A Delaware court has decided, a felon who got caught with incriminating evidence of the aforementioned Smith & Wesson has no expectation of Fourth Amendment protection against the “mistaken trust” he placed when accepting that Facebook friend request.

A police detective, using a fake / sock puppet account sent a Facebook friend request to a convicted felon, and was able to see photos of firearms posted on this person's page. The officer was then able to obtain a search warrant, and sure enough they found all of the incriminating physical evidence that was shown in the photograph on Facebook. (Medium, June 26, 2018)
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If you receive a Facebook Friend Request from someone, ask yourself:

1. Do You Know the Requester or Have Any Friends in Common With Them?
2. Does the Request Come From a Person With a Very Limited Facebook History?
3. Is There Very Little Personal Content on Their Timeline?

One of the easiest ways to determine that a Facebook account is fake is by examining the photo. It’s often the case that fake accounts use a profile photo that they’ve downloaded from somewhere else online. Use a 'Google Image Search' to see if the photo appears elsewhere on-line.