Her ex-coworker told everyone she'd left her job to date him. Then her Gmail started beeping with a chilling 3-word message

Not every coworker is your well-wisher. Steph Taylor(@stephfromjersey), a New Yorker, unfortunately learned the harsh truth only after a terrifying experience with an ex-colleague. The ordeal began in 2025 when she met a male coworker on a part-time job. Throughout her tenure, Taylor kept their relationship strictly professional until she made the biggest mistake of her life — accepting his Instagram request. On July 15, 2026, the woman took to TikTok to share that her ex-colleague's obsession forced her into therapy. Nevertheless, Taylor refused to bow down and instead chose to share her painful story online. Her video has received over 55,000 views on her page.

Inbox invasion

Taylor joined her part-time job in March 2025, where she first met her stalker. He basically trained her on their job for four consecutive weeks. However, after the training, Taylor did not see him until an overlapping shift in July. She explained that she maintained a very professional relationship with the man and spoke to him only when necessary. But then, her ex-colleague reached out to her on Instagram, and Taylor accepted his request. A seemingly harmless move turned downhill when the man started disturbing her with multiple messages. Frustrated, Taylor blocked his colleague on Instagram, but then he began emailing her on her personal Gmail. The woman blocked him there, too, and let it slide. Eventually, Taylor quit her job in October. By February, she heard rumors that her coworker had started saying they were a couple. In fact, he told everyone that Taylor left her job because of their breakup.

A horrifying email

Taylor ignored the man again. However, once while working on her laptop, she saw an email from him. She immediately opened it, and it read, "I'm in Hoboken; please come downstairs." Confused, Taylor clicked on 'recover past emails' and saw more than 15 from the same weekend. The phrase "Please come downstairs" was repeated several times. The woman tried to show it to her family, but it was deleted automatically. After she fixed her email settings, she found more emails from the past month. Taylor immediately reported him to the police, but they refused to help her. She then went to lawyers, and most declined to support her, except for one. Taylor said she's sharing her story so that others are aware of such a possibility.

The stalking misery

This incident might be shocking, but the CDC survey between 2023 and 2024 found that 1 in 5 American women (22.5%) confessed to being stalked at least once in their lifetime. Furthermore, 78.3% of female victims admitted to being followed, watched, or spied on, just like Taylor, and 74.2% were approached by their stalkers at their house, workplace, or even schools. Interestingly, Taylor did not know she was being stalked until recently, but based on the emails, it seemed like her former coworker was often outside her residence or workplace, waiting for her to come outside. Some of the emails read, "You look great today," "Please come downstairs," "I'm outside," "Please come talk to me."

'Get restraining orders'

People in the comment section shared their own crazy stalking stories and told Taylor to be cautious in the future. @pockety2 wrote, "I had an old neighbor, a couple who stalked me for seven years. Put a tracker on me and everything. Get a lifetime restraining order and document everything. It took me seven years to have enough justifiable evidence to convict them." @kiki__blunt shared, "I hate that people try to downplay it. I was stalked by my ex-best friend, it consumes everything, and even after it's all over, I'm still wary of people, scared of windows at night, and hyper vigilant for no reason."

You can follow Steph Taylor (@stephfromjersey) on TikTok for more lifestyle content.

More on Scoop Upworthy

Woman credits safety tip from the internet for saving her from a creepy stalker

Walmart shopper trying to escape a wily stalker asked a stranger to be her 'husband.' He nailed it

A woman was being followed down a street. So, she asked a stranger to act like he knew her.