84‑year-old Finn recovers life savings after scam

84-year-old Kari Suhonen from Helsinki experienced a massive ordeal. The man lost his life savings. After months of uncertainty and thanks to the intervention of the police and the prosecutor's office, he recovered the money.

The nightmare of the 84-year-old Finn began on 23 January 2024. At that time, Kari Suhonen was contacted by someone claiming to be calling from a Norwegian bank. They informed him that there was concerning activity on his account.

In response, Suhonen confessed that this was not his bank. At the same time, he mentioned that he had an account with Nordea Bank.

Soon, a "representative of that bank" called. He said that we must quickly transfer the money to another account to keep the funds safe - the 84-year-old said in an interview with the portal svenska.yle.fi. - I panicked; I thought the money was lost - he added.

The scammers were persuasive and spoke fluent Finnish, leading the 84-year-old to follow their instructions.

A little later, the Finn realised what had happened.

I immediately called the bank. They told me: "yes, the money has been transferred, it is in Poland" - he recounted, as quoted by svenska.yle.fi.

It was "tens of thousands of euros." Suhonen asked the bank representative to halt the transaction.

The lady told me that the money had already been withdrawn. She said it was gone and nothing more could be done - added the 84-year-old.

The end of this story turned out to be fortunate. After numerous interventions, the man achieved his goal. When he checked his bank account at the beginning of May, he almost fell off his chair.

A transfer appeared from the Polish prosecutor's office in the amount corresponding to my savings! Thanks to the police and prosecutors in Poland and Finland, I got my funds back. I am grateful to them - the man concluded.

At the same time, he did not hide his great resentment toward the bank representatives. He believes they didn't do everything they could to help him recover the funds.