How safe are safety deposit boxes? They're not as protected as you may think

A Montreal-area woman believes carelessness and lack of security at her bank are to blame for the alleged theft of $20,000 in cash from her safety deposit box.

Irina Broido said she and her father opened the box in 2009 to keep important documents, jewellery and money. She eventually became the principal user when her father became too ill to leave the house.

But last February, she discovered her money, which she'd kept inside the box in a clear Ziploc bag for her parents' funeral expenses, was gone.

"It was like in the movies," said Broido."It was a nightmare."

The police were called to the TD Canada Trust branch in St. Hubert on Montreal's South Shore and Broido asked the bank to investigate.

But it's been an uphill battle. Due to the confidential nature of the boxes, only Broido could vouch for its contents. The box also wasn't insured against theft and she hadn't realized that storing cash inside was prohibited.

Broido's parents are Eastern European and grew up with what she describes as "old-fashioned" thinking around money. They didn't keep savings in a bank account, but at home.

She said a safety deposit box seemed like a reasonable alternative.

"I blindly trusted [them] because it's a bank," said Broido. Now she's questioning their security and protocols.

A few months before her money went missing, Broido said her key began sticking in the lock. The bank couldn't replace it, so in the fall of 2023, she moved her belongings to a new box and the bank issued a new signing card.

Each box has a signing card that lists who has authorized access. It is a historical record the customer and the bank employee both have to sign to keep track of visits

But last Christmas, Broido said her card went missing. Despite this, she said the bank employee let her access her box.

"How come I can go freely without signing anything? They said, 'Don't worry, we're going to open it next time,'" she said.

When she visited the bank again in January, she was issued a new card. After the alleged theft, Broido wondered if there were other visits that weren't properly documented.

Box protections differ from bank accounts

A quick online search of Canada's big banks turns up very little on what customers can keep in their box. The specifics aren't revealed until the customer signs their contract.

Eddie Ning, an assistant professor of marketing and behavioural science at the University of British Columbia, said those details would make the product seem less desirable.

"You want to keep your slogan simple, right? It's a safety deposit box. It's safe," he said.

It varies from bank to bank, but generally speaking, Ning said there's usually a clause in the contract that prohibits customers from keeping cash, precious metals over a certain size or anything dangerous or illegal in their boxes such as guns or drugs.

People can only access their boxes during bank hours. So it's generally not recommended to keep passports, medical directives or living wills in your box either.

Banks also do not record what a customer puts in or takes out. For that reason, the leasing contract states that banks are not liable for lost or stolen items, said Ning.

Ning says many customers believe a safety deposit box is like a bank account, which is protected by the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation. But that protection does not extend to safety deposit boxes.

Halifax-based anti-fraud consultant Vanessa Iafolla says it can be difficult for customers to prove their item was lost or stolen, which is why it's so important to read the contract's terms and conditions, which change regularly.

Depending on the insurer, Iafolla said it is sometimes possible to have home insurance cover off-site storage such as safety deposit boxes.

Safety deposit boxes are subject to dual control, meaning authorized users can't access their boxes alone. Customers are escorted to the vault by an employee who opens one lock, while the customer uses their key to open the other.

Iafolla said Brodio's experience sounds like bank employees may have deviated from protocol, especially around how the signature log was managed.

"Those signature cards are there for a reason and they are a record of your access to your safety deposit box," said Iafolla. "If you don't have that physical card, there's not a lot you can do to ascertain who was there when and on what day."

Money not reimbursed

CBC News asked the five big banks the Bank of Montreal, Royal Bank, TD Canada Trust, Scotiabank and CIBC to clarify what can and can't be kept in safety deposit boxes and what clients are told when they sign a leasing agreement.

The banks would only say clients are provided with this information directly when they sign an agreement, including details on contents, access, insurance and costs. Clients were encouraged to contact the bank if they had questions.

In 2012, TD Bank drilled open and emptied thousands of safety deposit boxes across the country in an effort to get rid of those no longer being used or paid for. The contents were supposed to be set aside for safe keeping, but several families came forward in 2020 to report missing belongings.

Iafolla said she is not aware of a centralized log that shows or tracks losses from safety deposit boxes across all banks.

Iafolla said banks have their own internal fraud department where these types of incidents are reported. But it's impossible to know if this is a widespread issue because we only hear about the people who complain publicly

Broido filed complaints with the bank and opened a file with Longueuil, Que., police. Her case was examined by TD's senior customer complaints' office and the private national mediation company ADR Chambers that handles TD complaints. Broido was not reimbursed her money.

In an emailed statement, Caroline Phmius, TD Bank's public affairs manager, said it has strict protocols in place to ensure the contents in deposit boxes are safely guarded and can only be accessed with the customer present.

"Protecting our customers is our top priority and we take these matters seriously," said Phmius.

In a letter explaining the decision not to reimburse Broido, TD's complaints investigator said it could not prove there was money missing from Broido's safety deposit box. It also could not find any evidence of a discrepancy with her records.

Broido questions their competency.

After the alleged theft, Broido said the bank could not find a record of her visits between October and December 2023.

Although the money went missing in February 2024, she found it unsettling.

In his letter, the TD investigator explained that bank senior management had asked to look at security footage of the safety deposit box area, but it was "inconclusive" because there were no cameras inside this branch's vault or facing the boxes.

For privacy reasons, Iafolla said you don't want to record customers pulling items out of their boxes, but thinks there should be some record of who is coming and going from the vault.

"They need that for their own protection as much as the client does," said Iafolla.

Broido said she's lost trust in the banking system and wants to warn others. She closed her safety deposit box for good at TD last week.

"It's not easy to deal with the emotions, with the stress," said Broido, who is receiving support from Quebec's Crime Victims Assistance Centre (CAVAC) for psychological distress.