How safe is email?

Nebbit

Is it safe to send bank details to and from personal email addresses?  I know people do it all the time, but I do worry. Am I being very old fashioned?

km1500

there are two definitions of safe 

if you mean is it safe in the sense that it cannot be intercepted etc then yes it is safe 

if you mean safe in terms of sending it to some recipient who has asked you for them then be wary and fully understand why you are sending them your bank details. be sure you're not being scammed and be wary of small changes in an email address which means you think you are sending it to person A but in fact you're selling it to person B

TheSpectator

km1500 said:

there are two definitions of safe 

if you mean is it safe in the sense that it cannot be intercepted etc then yes it is safe 

Well, that is incorrect.

400ixl

If you want to be a bit more protective, you could put the details inside a document, give that a password and attach it inside the email.

If you know the person, could you get them to use an app like Whatsapp or Telegram where the communication is end to end encrypted.

zagfles

If you're old fashioned you might remember the days of cheques where you give your full bank details to everyone you paid. There's not a great deal a malicious person could do with your bank details, worst is stuff like setting up a DD (which is easily reversable and refundable under the DD guarantee) or the scam of paying money in from a phished account then asking for it back via some untraceable method (which you should ignore - ask your bank to reverse the transaction). Utility companies, credit card companies etc publish their full bank details on their websites, statements etc so people can pay them. 

Rodders53

It's as safe as sending the same information via snail mail. 
Or writing it down and giving that to someone.
A cheque contains the same information. 
As do most (if not all) Debit Cards.

What, exactly, are you concerned about?

Voyager2002

Email can be intercepted.

Sending passwords and so forth by email would be a very bad idea (sharing them with anyone is usually unwise).

RumRat

Lost count of the number of business' that have sent me emails with bank details for payment contained as part of the signature or header.
What can someone do with the details other than pay something into your account???

km1500

how can an email be intercepted? 

400ixl

km1500 said:

how can an email be intercepted? 

DNS MX record hijacking attack is one way

Likelihood of your email being intercepted is exceptionally low though. Email client / web would be more likely but still very low.

But there are better ways to pass on sensitive data.

km1500

so you are saying that if I send an email from my Fred@gmail.com to Joe@gmail.com it can be intercepted and eg read before it arrives at Joe?