1) Australian English term 2) Australian invention 3) Military terminology 4) Rumor 
A furphy is Australian slang for a rumour, or an erroneous or improbable story. The word is derived from water carts designed and made by a company established by John Furphy: J. Furphy & Sons of Shepparton, Victoria. The steel and cast iron tanks were first made in the 1880s and were used on farms and by stock agents. Many Furphy water carts were...
A rumour or a false story. 
Furphy is Australian army slang for a rumour or fictitious story.
A rumour or a false story
a false report; rumor.
false or unreliable rumour