Kumari Shreya
Netflix’s ‘Can I Tell You a Secret?’ focuses on just how one person targeted various women across the United Kingdom via the internet. Zoe Hallam was one of the victims of the cyberstalking done by a man named Matthew Hardy. Her story captivated many viewers, who could not help but feel for her as she explained the struggle and pain she went through. The ups and downs that she navigated during this case were certainly not easy, but they have also helped her find the answers to her questions.
Zoe Hallam Pulled Out All Stops to Find Her Stalker
A resident of Lincolnshire, England, Zoe Hallam found Instagram to be a great platform when it came to building connectivity. Working as a model, she was able to get to know many photographers. However, one weekend, she received a message from someone named Tracey. The profile seemed to belong to a fellow model. Believing it to be someone who just wanted to complement her work, she did not pay much attention to it. However, not long after, she received a message from someone on Snapchat claiming that they were a photographer who wanted to tell her a secret.
Afraid of just what this person might be trying to tell her, she tracked the person down on Instagram and asked them if they were talking to her on Snapchat. When the photographer claimed that they did not even have a Snapchat account, Zoe realized that someone was contacting her via a fake profile. Hence, she messaged them on Snapchat, saying that she knew that they were not who they were claiming to be. Zoe’s words prompted the person messaging her to start talking in a more aggressive tone. They claimed that they had been in contact with some of her family members, which shocked her, and she asked the person on the other end why they were doing this.
Zoe then learned that the stalker had apparently created a fake Facebook profile of hers and even talked to a friend’s father in a flirty manner. Using the screenshots that the impersonator had sent her, the person who was doing this was apparently none other than Tracey, who had contacted her earlier. As such, Zoe used Facebook to let everyone know that Tracey was scamming people using a fake profile of hers. However, a photographer then informed her that the profile actually did not belong to the real Tracey, and she herself was facing issues regarding online identity theft.
The issue escalated, and Zoe was bombarded by hundreds of messages every day. Zoe started to suspect everyone around her, especially when she realized her stalker was gathering a lot of personal information about her. Things came to a head when the stalker told Zoe how they knew about the details of her exercise classes. She started to keep a record of everything when the stalker hinted that they were someone she knew well. A string of text conversations made Zoe think that her stalker was her friend from Boot Camp called Nathan, who had contacted her using a number she was told was being used by someone impersonating her.
However, when Zoe called Boot Camp to check up on Nathan, she realized the person claiming to be Nathan and messaging her was not actually him. In fact, Nathan and his wife claimed that they had been having a conversation with her via text already, which shocked her. As it turns out, the stalker had contacted Nathan and had been able to get Zoe’s actual number and schedule by impersonating her. She then received a call from someone who did not say anything after calling her but breathed heavily.
One time, the stalker had called Zoe when she was out with a friend named Lily. The friend decided to answer for her and told the person on the other end to stop messaging Zoe. However, the stalker then replied with a text stating, “Oh, hi Lily – how is Phil?” This only terrified Zoe more, and she could not understand how the stalker knew Lily and Lily’s father’s name. This prompted Zoe to go to the police, but she confessed that she felt embarrassed about it all and had gotten the impression that the officers might be blaming her somewhat for it. When Zoe asked them to at least trace the number from which she was called, she stated she was told that tracing numbers was only done in cases involving rape and murders, which upset Zoe more.
Zoe Hallam is Traveling Across the World
In July 2019, one of Zoe Hallam’s ex-partners told her that he had been contacted by someone named Matthew Hardy regarding her. Realizing that this might be a credible lead, she tried to do research on him and found that Matthew Hardy had been sentenced in 2010 for Facebook hacking. Realizing the similarities between her story and Hardy’s history, she realized this was the man behind it all. Zoe gave all the information she had on the case to Kevin Anderson and did take comfort in the fact that Hardy was sentenced to nine years in prison on January 26, 2022.
As of writing, Zoe continues to work as a model. Though she does find it hard to trust people easily, she has remained open to positive things in life. Now, in a happy relationship, Zoe and her partner can often be seen traveling across the world. Some of the places that the two have explored include Austria and Vietnam. More recently, Zoe also traversed to Japan and Mexico.
Read More: Lia Hambly: Where is Stalking Survivor Now?
