My name is Cecilie Fjellhøy.
I was thrown into the public eye when I came forward with my story. Only in 2019 through VG's original Tinderswindler article, which became VG's most read of all time. In February 2022 came the Netflix documentary of the same name. Over 200 countries at the same time saw my story, where I unfolded my private life, with the hope that justice would be done.
It was an unprecedented media storm.
For a woman from Lillestrøm outside Oslo, it is a confusing world to be thrown into. But if it helped that I stood up, that others can see that they are either on the way to being scammed, have been scammed or are in a destructive relationship, then I thought it was worth it.
I received many messages from people who had either been scammed, but one stood out. It was from a lawyer from a small law firm who wrote about clients who had taken their lives over high debt. They were so sorry that they couldn't do more for these people. I could not stand by and let this continue. I, who myself had been admitted to an emergency psychiatric unit with precisely such thoughts. My passion was really ignited.
As a full-time usability designer in the IT industry for almost 10 years, I saw a golden opportunity to use the qualities and strengths I had developed there and use them to further the fraud cause. I have experience working with both digital identity and with the banking system.
The swindlecase
Since 2019, I have fought and stood up in various media in Norway, and had meetings with various organizations and parties to promote the fraud case for victims. I think it is extremely important to include victims in the discussion when it comes to changing processes, laws and regulations.
Over the past 6 months I have been traveling all over the world giving talks, speeches and presentations. This is something I find incredibly rewarding, and I see how useful and important it is for the audience.
Through my organization, action:reaction, I hope to create a place for fraud victims to get mental help and support. This work is now in progress.
Moving on
In time, I hope to become an important and loud voice when we talk about fraud (in all forms), to deal with opposition and to be brave. Women empowerment is also important to me. I see how it can be more difficult to be a woman when you speak out about injustice. This is something I have a lot of experience with now, and look forward to talking about even more.
I see how important it is for others to see me stand on a stage and not be ashamed of what happened to me. Being able to inspire and show that life is not over is a gift that I don't want to let go to waste. To be a spokesperson for such an important issue I take with me with humility and respect.
Contact me to book a speech.
Leave your contact information and a descriptive request in the form below, and I will contact you as soon as I am free.