Donate to Remove ads

Got a credit card? use our Credit Card & Finance Calculators

Thanks to johnstevens77,Bhoddhisatva,scotia,Anonymous,Cornytiv34, for Donating to support the site

Is it now safe to send bank statements etc by email

A virtual pub for off topic, light hearted pub related banter and discussion. No trainers
Fluke
Lemon Slice
Posts: 608
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 8:51 pm
Has thanked: 61 times
Been thanked: 137 times

Is it now safe to send bank statements etc by email

#447424

Postby Fluke » October 3rd, 2021, 10:50 am

Moderator Message:
Moved from DAK to The Snug (leaving a link) as the subject matter is wandering. - Chris


I want to make a withdrawal from my AJBell SIPP and as I haven't done this before they're asking for a copy of my bank statement, the one to which the SIPP is linked, they are asking for it to be emailed to them from the email address that they have for me on their files. They do offer the alternative to send by post if I prefer.

This has always been a big no-no hasn't it, emailing important/sensitive stuff from/to regular (ie not especially secure) email addresses, but it seems to be being done more and more now, e.g. insurance policies containing all your personal details are routinely emailed etc. So what is the current position DAK? AJBell must think it's secure enough or presumably they wouldn't be asking. Would they?

Markab01
Lemon Pip
Posts: 71
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 5:43 pm
Been thanked: 33 times

Re: Is it now safe to send bank statements etc by email

#447444

Postby Markab01 » October 3rd, 2021, 12:20 pm

Just a thought.
Is it possible to send it via their secure massage system ?

Markab01

gryffron
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 3603
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 10:00 am
Has thanked: 550 times
Been thanked: 1582 times

Re: Is it now safe to send bank statements etc by email

#447445

Postby gryffron » October 3rd, 2021, 12:21 pm

Solicitors asked me for the same.

There isn’t much critical information on a bank statement. Certainly not enough to get you past the 2FA which is usual for bank accounts these days.

Though I wouldn’t send them the latest one, as banks sometimes ask for recent transactions. They usually ask for “recent” so you should be able to get away with one a couple of months old.

Gryff

Itsallaguess
Lemon Half
Posts: 9129
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 1:16 pm
Has thanked: 4140 times
Been thanked: 10023 times

Re: Is it now safe to send bank statements etc by email

#447446

Postby Itsallaguess » October 3rd, 2021, 12:22 pm

Markab01 wrote:
Just a thought.

Is it possible to send it via their secure massage system ?


I'd ask first.

It might just rub them up the wrong way...

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

Sunnypad
Lemon Slice
Posts: 744
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 1:17 pm
Has thanked: 153 times
Been thanked: 309 times

Re: Is it now safe to send bank statements etc by email

#447449

Postby Sunnypad » October 3rd, 2021, 12:31 pm

Fluke wrote:I want to make a withdrawal from my AJBell SIPP and as I haven't done this before they're asking for a copy of my bank statement, the one to which the SIPP is linked, they are asking for it to be emailed to them from the email address that they have for me on their files. They do offer the alternative to send by post if I prefer.

This has always been a big no-no hasn't it, emailing important/sensitive stuff from/to regular (ie not especially secure) email addresses, but it seems to be being done more and more now, e.g. insurance policies containing all your personal details are routinely emailed etc. So what is the current position DAK? AJBell must think it's secure enough or presumably they wouldn't be asking. Would they?


I can't answer your question but I recently sold a property and was amazed at being asked to send bank statements by email. It was mum's property and she refused but we had the option of going in physically.

Sadly I think it is a norm. I don't know why we are advised to shred this stuff now.

On a separate note, why are they asking this for a SIPP withdrawal please?

mc2fool
Lemon Half
Posts: 7812
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 11:24 am
Has thanked: 7 times
Been thanked: 3017 times

Re: Is it now safe to send bank statements etc by email

#447450

Postby mc2fool » October 3rd, 2021, 12:32 pm

No, the email protocols (SMTP) haven't changed since the beginning of time and are no more secure than they ever were, i.e. not at all.

What has improved is the ability to detect fake email addresses and sources (assuming your email provider uses SPF, DKIM and DMARC: look them up if you're interested), so AJBell can be more confident that the message is from the address it claims to be from, albeit not 100% so.

However, the email contents can still be read by a man-in-the-middle attack, i.e. if it is intercepted along its way.

If you want it to be secure you have to encrypt it, and for that you need to ask AJBell for their PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) Public Key -- and you have to have an email client that can use it to encrypt the message. It'll be interesting to see if AJBell even know what you're talking about ... :D

onthemove
Lemon Slice
Posts: 540
Joined: June 24th, 2017, 4:03 pm
Has thanked: 722 times
Been thanked: 471 times

Re: Is it now safe to send bank statements etc by email

#447451

Postby onthemove » October 3rd, 2021, 12:35 pm

Fluke wrote:I want to make a withdrawal from my AJBell SIPP and as I haven't done this before they're asking for a copy of my bank statement, the one to which the SIPP is linked, they are asking for it to be emailed to them from the email address that they have for me on their files. They do offer the alternative to send by post if I prefer.

This has always been a big no-no hasn't it, emailing important/sensitive stuff from/to regular (ie not especially secure) email addresses, but it seems to be being done more and more now, e.g. insurance policies containing all your personal details are routinely emailed etc. So what is the current position DAK? AJBell must think it's secure enough or presumably they wouldn't be asking. Would they?


There's a risk. Maybe not a high risk, but a risk.
(Your email would have to go through a server operated (or infected) by someone with malicious intent, and then they'd have to spot it. Or there's also the risk that someone could hack your email account and view it directly via that. I wouldn't necessarily say the risks were high, but I'd be a little nervous about chancing it... particularly with financial stuff)

Would AJ Bell accept you sending it encrypted?

Frustratingly, Microsoft seems to have removed the built in password protect option on Zip files ....

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/win ... 5a218aeb32

.. so I could imagine AJBell might be a little reluctant to bother with the hassle, unless they've already got an 'approved' method of sending encrypted, but if they had, I guess they would already have told you.

Just remember though, if you're sending bank statements, it'll be your bank account, and not your AJ Bell account, that will be at risk - unless you also include enough information in the email to give away your AJ Bell account details as well - but my point is, the main risk won't be for AJ Bell, it'll be with you and your bank account. So I wouldn't be surprised if AJ Bell aren't entirely 'understanding', and just leave the choice up to you, but won't be prepared to faff about with third party encryption (their IT policy probably won't allow their staff to install any applications to decode, etc).

I take it they don't have a secure 'upload' available on your account where you could upload such documents directly and securely? It would seem to make sense for such a feature if they often ask people to send electronic documents as proof, etc. But I guess they'd have told you already if they had such a facility.

To be honest, you're probably better just sending them snail mail.

Caveat: It does seem like an odd request if you already have the bank account linked to your brokerage account.

I'm pretty sure that when I've linked accounts, my brokers have someway of verifying that the linked account is in the same name as the brokerage account. Though it has been a while since I've setup anything new with my brokers - I've had the accounts running a while now.

Is it possible that whoever you spoke to was perhaps new and didn't understand the system? Might be worth ringing again, hoping you get through to someone else, and starting your request from scratch, omitting to mention you've already spoken to someone.

Alternatively, if they'll accept a screenshot, could you part-mask out some information... like only leave the last few digits of your account number?

production100
2 Lemon pips
Posts: 117
Joined: November 7th, 2016, 10:58 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 59 times

Re: Is it now safe to send bank statements etc by email

#447452

Postby production100 » October 3rd, 2021, 12:36 pm

Last time a solicitor asked me for that I blanked out the account number. They were perfectly happy with that.

Chris

scrumpyjack
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 4809
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 10:15 am
Has thanked: 605 times
Been thanked: 2673 times

Re: Is it now safe to send bank statements etc by email

#447454

Postby scrumpyjack » October 3rd, 2021, 12:39 pm

I have shown solicitors original documents over Whatsapp live, they were happy with that.

AsleepInYorkshire
Lemon Half
Posts: 7383
Joined: February 7th, 2017, 9:36 pm
Has thanked: 10514 times
Been thanked: 4659 times

Re: Is it now safe to send bank statements etc by email

#447456

Postby AsleepInYorkshire » October 3rd, 2021, 12:42 pm

Fluke wrote:I want to make a withdrawal from my AJBell SIPP and as I haven't done this before they're asking for a copy of my bank statement, the one to which the SIPP is linked, they are asking for it to be emailed to them from the email address that they have for me on their files. They do offer the alternative to send by post if I prefer.

This has always been a big no-no hasn't it, emailing important/sensitive stuff from/to regular (ie not especially secure) email addresses, but it seems to be being done more and more now, e.g. insurance policies containing all your personal details are routinely emailed etc. So what is the current position DAK? AJBell must think it's secure enough or presumably they wouldn't be asking. Would they?

Ask them if you can redact sensitive information before sending

AiY

Dod101
The full Lemon
Posts: 16629
Joined: October 10th, 2017, 11:33 am
Has thanked: 4343 times
Been thanked: 7534 times

Re: Is it now safe to send bank statements etc by email

#447460

Postby Dod101 » October 3rd, 2021, 12:55 pm

scrumpyjack wrote:I have shown solicitors original documents over Whatsapp live, they were happy with that.


That is surely the answer. Might even use it myself next time, although I have not had a paper bank statement for years as like any paper saving person would, I get them electronically on the bank website.

Dod

Dod101
The full Lemon
Posts: 16629
Joined: October 10th, 2017, 11:33 am
Has thanked: 4343 times
Been thanked: 7534 times

Re: Is it now safe to send bank statements etc by email

#447462

Postby Dod101 » October 3rd, 2021, 1:00 pm

production100 wrote:Last time a solicitor asked me for that I blanked out the account number. They were perfectly happy with that.

Chris


I do not then understand what benefit or reassurance the solicitor would get. he would know that you held an account with XYZ Bank but that is all.

Dod

dealtn
Lemon Half
Posts: 6072
Joined: November 21st, 2016, 4:26 pm
Has thanked: 441 times
Been thanked: 2324 times

Re: Is it now safe to send bank statements etc by email

#447473

Postby dealtn » October 3rd, 2021, 1:38 pm

Dod101 wrote:
production100 wrote:Last time a solicitor asked me for that I blanked out the account number. They were perfectly happy with that.

Chris


I do not then understand what benefit or reassurance the solicitor would get. he would know that you held an account with XYZ Bank but that is all.

Dod


Well it would depend on what the request was for. But for instance if the solicitor had already established your identity, and you are able to prove you have a bank account, there is an inference you have had some of the Money Laundering checks undertaken by that bank in opening the account, so a less strict regime of regulatory checks need be undertaken by the solicitor.

In effect they are outsourcing some of the work to produce a lower level of work for themselves. Knowledge of you holding an account at XYZ Bank isn't "all" that is achieved.

Alaric
Lemon Half
Posts: 6031
Joined: November 5th, 2016, 9:05 am
Has thanked: 20 times
Been thanked: 1398 times

Re: Is it now safe to send bank statements etc by email

#447478

Postby Alaric » October 3rd, 2021, 1:47 pm

Dod101 wrote:I do not then understand what benefit or reassurance the solicitor would get. he would know that you held an account with XYZ Bank but that is all.


It's most likely down to their interpretation of money laundering regulations. If they don't know the account number they cannot apply any checks that they are sending the withdrawal to the right place.

Many years ago selftrade were demanding hat direct debits were set up along with physical copies of bank statements to support the direct debit instruction. That was some while before they went completely mad by demanding your entire family wealth history.

Sunnypad
Lemon Slice
Posts: 744
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 1:17 pm
Has thanked: 153 times
Been thanked: 309 times

Re: Is it now safe to send bank statements etc by email

#447485

Postby Sunnypad » October 3rd, 2021, 2:01 pm

production100 wrote:Last time a solicitor asked me for that I blanked out the account number. They were perfectly happy with that.

Chris


Interesting. I was acting as PofA which wasn't at all as straightforward as we heard from others.

It was the account number and sort code they particularly wanted...

At the start, I provided a copy of mum's bank account where the funds were going....day before completion, we were asked for it again. Could just be that particular solicitor. I was really annoyed because we had been assured there was nothing left to do.

They did try to say that we were holding things up by not doing it electronically.

I am hoping to move next year and I will have to do all this electronically but mum refused.

I still remain baffled why we should shred anything...is that more about protecting your name and address maybe?

production100
2 Lemon pips
Posts: 117
Joined: November 7th, 2016, 10:58 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 59 times

Re: Is it now safe to send bank statements etc by email

#447493

Postby production100 » October 3rd, 2021, 2:20 pm

In my case they were checking funds were available. Presumably the account balance and name and address were adequate without the actual account number.

Chris

mc2fool
Lemon Half
Posts: 7812
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 11:24 am
Has thanked: 7 times
Been thanked: 3017 times

Re: Is it now safe to send bank statements etc by email

#447506

Postby mc2fool » October 3rd, 2021, 3:14 pm

BTW, you probably have a method of sending them a secure copy of your bank statement by email....

If you have Microsoft Word then you can scan in the statement into Word and then password protect the document. In my version of Word 365 you click on File then Info and then Protect Document and then Encrypt with Password. Other versions may have it elsewhere (or not at all for earlier ones).

Choose a password that's something they'll know and then email them the document with the explanation that it's password protected and the password is (e.g.) your NI number, which they have on file for you.

Dod101
The full Lemon
Posts: 16629
Joined: October 10th, 2017, 11:33 am
Has thanked: 4343 times
Been thanked: 7534 times

Re: Is it now safe to send bank statements etc by email

#447507

Postby Dod101 » October 3rd, 2021, 3:36 pm

production100 wrote:In my case they were checking funds were available. Presumably the account balance and name and address were adequate without the actual account number.

Chris


Interesting thanks. I have just had one of those periodical checks that my solicitor does every few years and all they required was to see my passport and my driving licence as long as it had my photo. That was only an update of course but she said it was to comply with the Money Laundering regulations.

Dod

Sunnypad
Lemon Slice
Posts: 744
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 1:17 pm
Has thanked: 153 times
Been thanked: 309 times

Re: Is it now safe to send bank statements etc by email

#447509

Postby Sunnypad » October 3rd, 2021, 3:44 pm

mc2fool wrote:BTW, you probably have a method of sending them a secure copy of your bank statement by email....

If you have Microsoft Word then you can scan in the statement into Word and then password protect the document. In my version of Word 365 you click on File then Info and then Protect Document and then Encrypt with Password. Other versions may have it elsewhere (or not at all for earlier ones).

Choose a password that's something they'll know and then email them the document with the explanation that it's password protected and the password is (e.g.) your NI number, which they have on file for you.


Is that still easy enough to hack though, the password mechanism. I honestly don't know, hence the question.

If someone knows how to intercept the mail, it seems they'd also get round this easily?

Fluke
Lemon Slice
Posts: 608
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 8:51 pm
Has thanked: 61 times
Been thanked: 137 times

Re: Is it now safe to send bank statements etc by email

#447518

Postby Fluke » October 3rd, 2021, 4:15 pm

Interesting discussion. When I click on 'withdrawals' from within my account this is what it says - I'm pasting it in as not sure the link will work:

As part of our anti-fraud and customer verification process, we need to electronically verify that the bank account you’ve registered with us matches your name and address. That means we won’t be able to process any withdrawals for you until you send us more information.

To complete these checks, please send us a copy of a bank statement for your registered account. This copy must:

• include your name and address
• show the name of your bank, the sort code and the bank account number
• be less than three months old at the time we receive it
You can send us your paper bank statement by scanning it and emailing it to withdrawals@youinvest.co.uk or you can download your online statement as a PDF and email it to the same address.

Please note: we can’t accept screenshots or photographs of your online statement – you’ll need to send us a downloaded PDF version. And we can only accept emails that come from the email address registered to your AJ Bell Youinvest account.

Or if you’d prefer, you can post us your bank statement or printed online bank statement. Our postal address is:

AJ Bell Youinvest Administration Team
4 Exchange Quay
Salford Quays
Manchester
M5 3EE

When sending your statement to us, please remember to quote your AJ Bell Youinvest account number.

Once we’ve verified your account, we’ll let you know by email. This message will no longer appear, and you’ll be free to request withdrawals.


So I'm showing the (potential) guy who's intercepted my email not only my bank statement with all the account and transaction info, but also my AJBell SIPP account number. What could go wrong? But a comment reminded me that this is not the first time I've made a withdrawal, I took out the 25% tax free bit a couple of years ago, and that, I'm pretty sure, was paid into my linked bank account.

Think I might email them and ask if they see any possible security issues with emailing my bank statement to them and see what they say. I'm sure that if there was a more secure way of doing it they'd have said. Someone made the very good point that sometimes when someone is trying to access their account they're asked about a recent transaction, I'll send in the one from August, and I think I'll send it by post.

Thanks all.


Return to “Beerpig's Snug”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 12 guests