Cyberstalker wanted to destroy me, but Wagatha Christie inspired me to find him
It looked like Abby Furness was living her dream life as she posed for photos in exotic locations.
But in reality, the singer’s world was slowly crumbling around her.
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Like Coleen Rooney, the 24-year-old had fallen victim to someone who exploited her through social media.
But it wasn’t someone from her inner circle who betrayed her trust – instead, it was a cyberstalker determined to destroy her closest relationships.
Abby, from Brighton, first realized she was being targeted in 2019 after Matthew Hardy, dubbed Britain’s worst ever cyberstalker, launched a year-long hate campaign that saw her lose her job, boyfriend and most of her friends .
To find out who was behind the fake accounts impersonating her, Abby took inspiration from Wag Coleen, 37.
The wife of former footballer Wayne Rooney used her private Instagram to investigate who shared false stories about her and her family.
It ended in her battle at the Wagatha Christie High Court with fellow Wag Rebekah Vardy, which Coleen won.
Abby, who tells her harrowing story in the new Netflix docuseries Can I Tell You A Secret?, says: “Wagatha Christie was my inspiration – I kept thinking the stalking would stop, but it just got worse and worse.
“Fake accounts shared horrible lies and even naked photos of me. It reached a point where enough was enough.”
Abby had just returned to the UK after living and working in Ibiza with her boyfriend when a friend messaged her asking if she had contacted her from a new number.
Abby assumed it was a one-time thing.
But she soon started receiving messages from fake social media accounts claiming to be from people close to her, saying they knew secrets about her private life.
Online accounts were also created in Abby’s name, using her hacked private photos.
To her horror, whoever was behind the accounts started sending flirty messages to partners of her friends and family.
She says: ‘I felt fear throughout my body.
“I was so upset and angry.
“But mostly I felt very ashamed, even though I knew I had done nothing wrong.”
Abby’s boyfriend was told through a fake account that she had cheated on him and dumped her, while friends who thought she had tried with their partners turned on her.
She was even forced to quit her job after her boss revealed that he had received private photos from a nude modeling shoot she had done.
She says: “I felt like I had nowhere else to turn.
It seemed like they were always one step ahead of me
Abby Furness
“My friends had a hard time believing me when I told them what was going on, let alone helping me get to the bottom of it.
“The family also turned against me, but my mother always supported me.
‘She told me to look into the Wagatha Christie case and when I started reading about what Coleen had done I wondered if I could also find out who was behind the fake accounts sending all these terrible messages.
“Like Coleen, I started selecting groups of followers at a time to put on my ‘close friends’ list.
‘I would keep track of who was looking at which story and provide false information, just to see who would bite.
“In about a month I managed to reach hundreds of people with this secret mission.
‘But it led nowhere and gave me no clue as to who was responsible.
“It seemed like they were always one step ahead of me.”
Abby, who also works as a fire eater, adds: “I had a mental image of who it could be.
‘I was sure it was a girl, a horrible little girl, like the ones I met at university who used to bother me.
“I never thought my stalker could be someone I had never met, let alone Matthew Hardy.”
In 2020, a few months after her ordeal, Abby was preparing for a girls’ holiday in Ibiza when she received a chilling message that read: “You need to be very careful. Look after.”
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She says: “I was really scared. I felt like it was a threat and that I was in danger.
“I was afraid I was going to get hurt.”
At that point, she finally called the police, but she felt like she was wasting their time, so she didn’t proceed.
She says: ‘Some of my closest friends and family still couldn’t believe I wasn’t doing any of this.
“They said I was bringing drama into their lives, that it was my fault and that I should be ashamed of it.
“I kept being told that when I spoke to the police no one would listen – that I was a stupid little girl who put herself on social media and that it was my own fault
“When I got up the courage to get help from the police, they wouldn’t help me.”
But during an Instagram Live in Ibiza, Abby had a breakthrough when she saw someone named Matthew Hardy in the comments section.
She says: “It was strange for me because I recognized all the other people in life, but not this name.
“I copied and pasted it into Facebook and a profile immediately appeared.”
Incredibly, Hardy had sent her a message.
Abby remembers, “All it said was, ‘It was all me.’
“And then he blocked me. It’s like he was trying to provoke me and get a reaction out of me.
Matthew completely destroyed everything good people thought of me
Abby Furness
‘It wasn’t until I first saw Matthew’s name pop up that I suspected it might be a man – and a man I didn’t even know and had never seen before.
“Until then it was never a possibility in my mind. I was convinced it was someone I knew.”
Even after Abby finally managed to get Hardy’s name, she says it was difficult to get the police involved and confirm whether his phone number matched her fake profile.
But an investigation led by PC Kevin Anderson of Cheshire Constabulary eventually put Hardy behind bars.
In 2022, with the help of Abby’s story and accounts from 62 other women he targeted, Hardy pleaded guilty to three counts of stalking with intent to cause alarm or distress, two counts of stalking without intent to cause alarm and violating a previous restraining order. from 2013, which prohibited him from using false information on social networking sites.
He was jailed for nine years – the longest sentence ever imposed on a cyberstalker in Britain.
Hardy, from Northwich, Cheshire, had tormented ‘hundreds’ of women online for a total of 11 years.
Although her stalker was in prison, Abby’s ordeal had long-lasting consequences.
She is still trying to rebuild friendships and repair relationships with her family.
She says: “My reputation was ruined.
“Matthew completely destroyed everything good people thought of me.
“Even to people who knew me, I was suddenly painted in a terrible light.
“Before all this happened, I couldn’t interact at all with friends who suffered from anxiety and depression.
I feel like I’m slowly getting my happiness back
Abby Furness
“I grew up in a very safe environment and was so happy and free-spirited.
‘But now I know exactly how they feel.
“When Matthew tried to destroy my life, it sent me down a path of spiraling destruction that I will feel forever.”
Since the Netflix docuseries about Abby’s ordeal launched this week, it has gone to No. 1 worldwide.
For Abby, there is a sense of relief and gratitude for the “overwhelming support” she and the other victims have received from viewers.
She says: “It really means everything and it makes me feel stronger than I ever thought.
“I feel like I’m slowly getting my happiness back.
“And while I will never be the same Abby, at least I have the strength to speak my truth.”
- Can I tell you a secret? is now available to stream on Netflix.
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