Terrie McEvoy has revealed she is being targeted by a cruel troll, who has threatened to get her dog Jake taken away from her as well as her nursing licence.
The Irish influencer and nurse took to her Instagram Stories to share a message she had received following her announcement that she would be returning to college for a Post Graduate Diploma.
In the DM Terrie received, the troll threatened to get her “nursing licence reviewed” and her dog Jake – who she rescued with husband David Fitzpatrick – “taken away from you monsters”.
Along with the screenshot, Terrie wrote: “I’ve hidden a lot of this message because I actually don’t think its normal behaviour…”
“The same person has been creating fake account after fake account to say the most disgusting things over the past few weeks,” she wrote.
“Slate my appearance, my clothes, my life, threaten my ‘licence’ and voicing that they have reported myself and David for ‘abusing’ Jake…hoping he’s taken away from us both.
“The venom and anger in each message seems to get worse each time,” she added, asking: “When will Instagram make it policy that you need to confirm your identity before creating an account?”
“I’m old enough not to let these absolute trolls bother me,” Terrie continued.
“But what if I was a teenager or young adult? What if I was feeling vulnerable? What if I was not as strong?
“It makes me sick that you can create a fake account and write what your want!! This absolutely needs to stop! Instagram get it together and make this a safer place – fake accounts need to go!”
The news comes just days after influencer Niamh Cullen admitted she went to her local Garda station after being harassed online.
The Dubliner, who promotes fitness and fashion on her Instagram page, shared a photo of herself visibly upset, after receiving messages from a “fake account”.
“I’m just out of the Garda station,” she told her 145k followers on the social media platform.
“I’m in an awful way. I feel so sick + upset. Unbelievably uneasy and quite honest after the messages I received this morning, I just don’t understand.”
“The message I received is looking like a fake page but the detail of the message, I’ve no words,” she continued.
“I did what I could in the moments that the messages came in,” she added before begging: “Instagram PLEASE LISTEN!!”
“We need to do something about these fake, inactive pages. Trolls, online bullying & harassment needs to come to an end.”
Soon after, popular Limerick blogger Louise Cooney told her 209k followers that she had got the same message weeks before.
“I got the exact message Niamh Cullen got,” she wrote. “Word for word from the same person a few weeks ago.”
“I couldn’t even share it it’s so upsetting. To think it’s a fake page actually makes me feel so sick,” she added.
