Thank You, Poliisi

A Lesson in Trust, Integrity, and a System That Works

Karl Balloch

Two months before, I experienced something that many people fear daily: I was scammed.

A fraudulent person hacked my friend’s WhatsApp account and contacted me while pretending to be my friend. The message sounded urgent and emotional. Trusting our mutual relationship, I immediately transferred 450 euros, believing I was helping my friend in time of urgency and need. Only later I got to know that my friend’s whatsapp number has been hacked.

As usually happens, my first reaction was disappointment and sadness.I was in an unbelief that such a thing could happen in Finland. But what followed changed my perspective profoundly.

I registered my complaint, “rikosilmoitus” online at poliisi.fi and informed my bank about the incident. After reading about such scams online, to be honest, my expectations were low for any possible recovery. I thought: “It’s only 450 euros. Surely nothing will happen.

But I was wrong.

When the System Takes You Seriously

The Finnish Police took my complaint seriously, treated me with respect, patience, and calm professionalism, and informed me that an officer has been appointed to investigate the matter.
They investigated the case, followed the trail, coordinated with relevant institutions, and eventually recovered my 450 euros and transferred it back to my bank account after less than two months.

At that moment, something touched my heart

I started feeling and thinking that the Poliisi may have spent 10,000 euros or more in working hours, administrative effort, physical energy, technical investigation, and coordination just to help one ordinary person like me to trace and recover 450 euros.

From a purely financial point of view, this makes no “profit” sense.
But from a justice, trust, and societal integrity point of view, it makes perfect sense.

What This Says About Finland

This experience is not just about money. It is about values.

In my native country and in many parts of the world, police are sadly associated with:

• Fear instead of safety
• Extortion instead of service
• A threat instead of trust
• Distrust instead of justice

Many immigrants and myself come from societies where:

• Reporting a crime to police means inviting more trouble
• Expecting authorities demand bribes
•  Believing that the government system exists to exploit, not to serve
• The poor and vulnerable are often ignored

Finland is not like this.

Here, police officers are:

• Calm and professional

• Honest and service-oriented

• Polite and respectful

• Expecting honesty, manners, and understanding

• Focused on justice, not personal gain

This is not accidental. It is the result of decades of trust-building, strong institutions, accountability, and a culture where public service is taken seriously.

A Personal Reflection for Fellow Immigrants

As immigrants in Finland, we often carry habits from the societies we came from, even without realizing it:

• We may feel impatient and easily frustrated
• We may struggle with tolerance when things don’t go our way
• We often carry suspicion and mistrust, expecting problems
• We may sound loud, complaining, or overly critical
• We tend to distrust authorities because of past experiences
• We sometimes expect the system to fail before it actually does

This is not about blaming ourselves. It is about noticing these habits, realizing and underlining our weaknesses so we can slowly change them and give ourselves a better chance to grow and settle in our new home.

These reactions are understandable but in Finland, they often work against us.

Finnish society is built on:

•   Trust, not on conflict
• Calmness, not on confrontation
• Procedure, not on prejudice
• Responsibility, not favoritism

When immigrants appear constantly angry, impatient, or mistrustful, it creates a negative impression, not because Finns lack empathy, but because the Finnish system expects and it is based on calmness, mutual cooperation, not confrontation.

Trust here is not weakness.
It is the foundation of everything that works.

A heartfelt Thank You

I want to end this post with a heartfelt thank you.

Thank you to the Poliisi for taking my case seriously.
Thank you for the time, energy, and effort you put into it.
Thank you for protecting an ordinary resident like me.
And thank you for showing that justice is not about money, but about principles.

Recovering 450 euros may seem like a small thing. But it takes the same care, work, and dedication as recovering a much larger amount. What truly mattered was the message behind it.

The message was clear and powerful:

In Finland, every person matters.
Even a small loss deserves justice.
And trust in the system is well placed.

Kiitos, Poliisi.
Your integrity is worth far more than the money you recovered, many many times over.