LinkedIn: Gone Phishin'

One of the problems with automated platform emails is never knowing what you're going to get on the receiving end. Sure, there are plenty of people on my contact roster whose first name is "John" and others with the last name of "Smith", but the "John Smith" character simply does not exist. Maybe someone at LinkedIn thought it was clever way to add connections this way. What makes it weirder is the language of the email which reads:

"Your contact, John Smith, just joined LinkedIn
Help welcome John and get connected"

2014-03-12, mobile screenshot
of LinkedIn notifications email

If he's already a contact, presumably farmed from the LinkedIn ecosystem, wouldn't he by default be in my network already? It makes me think this is a phising email since I don't know any John Smiths. And none exist in my LinkedIn connections nor among the apps that share contact data with LinkedIn.