Getting around password protected statements in Linux - Firefox

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I have encountered an issue in managing my mom’s finances. I had downloaded her statements, from Chase Bank for her credit card, as PDF files. When I went to open one in LibreOffice Draw, a popup stated it was password protected and asked for the password.

Chase statements password protected

I found discussions online that this bank password-protects their user statements when downloaded and many Windows users were unable to merge theirs into spreadsheets and other apps.

The solution given was instead of using the “Download” (which saves the file as PDF) use Microsoft’s Print to PDF option and then they were able to use the file as they needed to.

I understand being security-conscious, although I am unsure why they would not give you the password to unlock your own statement for editing. But many users on that forum stated they had called and were told they could not unlock with a password as Chase agents did not know the password. SMH!

So how to accomplish this in Linux? I used “View” instead of download and it opened up in a Firefox new tab. Then I used Print - Save to PDF and saved the file by a name/location of my choosing.

Then when I tried to open in LO Draw, the first time, it still asked for the password. So I hit cancel, and the file opened. Hmmm.

The next statement, I used the same options above, but this time I no longer got the password request. Instead, it opened for editing. Strange, but at least it worked. But once I went to try and copy dollar amounts from that LO file, that no longer worked in the way it usually does: no double-clicking the amount and having it select that amount for copying. Instead, it was like full editing mode where clicking anywhere created a text or object box.

I am unsure how printing to PDF removed the password protection of the file that is retained in downloading the same file.

I did try a secondary method of just opening the downloaded file with a Viewer like Okular on her computer and that did work. It allowed me to double click amounts and copy them. It would appear they do not mind you “viewing” your own bank statement, they just do not want you editing it. Again, SMH!

This is the only financial institution I have run into this with and am wondering if this is the state of things yet to come with all institutions. It is bad enough that most US banks no longer give you the option of downloading CSV files for use in financial apps, only PDF format. But now they limit your ability to use even that PDF? I decided to post this for anyone else who may encounter this.

The funny thing about this: her credit card is named “Freedom.” :rofl:

Sheila Flanagan

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That happened to me a while ago.
In my case it was a simple receipt sent as a .pdf file. I could look at it in a viewer, but it would not print, not even print to file.
I cant remember who sent it.
I did not solve the problem. Tried things like qpdf.
Am out of touch… had to look up SMH

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LOL. We use this a LOT at work so it has become my “goto” text message acronym.

Sheila

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Here it means Sydney Morning Herald

I found something

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My credit union still offers the option of spreadsheet downloads as well as PDF. LOCalc handles them nicely.

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Yes, Bill, I have found a few (which I do not use) that still do. But my local credit union also only offers PDF format. Aso do all of my credit cards, Citibank, Capital One, etc.

Thanks,
Sheila

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WOW. Once again, Linux saves the day. I cannot recount the times I have found the ability to do something in Linux CLI that you could not do in Windows. It’s like the creators thought of “everything!”

I am going to test this now.

Thanks,
Sheila

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Also this
https://blog.wirelessmoves.com/2019/12/how-to-open-protected-pdfs-on-linux.html

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This might help. :point_down:

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Okay. Using the article @nevj gave, I was unable to use the 1st option in qpdf:

After that is done, you will be prompted to enter the password for the file. Enter the password and hit enter to unlock the PDF.

From the topics listed in “help” (below), it appears decrypt is not a topic.

Topics:
  add-attachment: attach (embed) files
  advanced-control: tweak qpdf's behavior
  attachments: work with embedded files
  completion: shell completion
  copy-attachments: copy attachments from another file
  encryption: create encrypted files
  exit-status: meanings of qpdf's exit codes
  general: general options
  help: information about qpdf
  inspection: inspect PDF files
  json: JSON output for PDF information
  modification: change parts of the PDF
  overlay-underlay: overlay/underlay pages from other files
  page-ranges: page range syntax
  page-selection: select pages from one or more files
  pdf-dates: PDF date format
  testing: options for testing or debugging
  transformation: make structural PDF changes
  usage: basic invocation

For detailed help, visit the qpdf manual: https://qpdf.readthedocs.io

So I looked at the 2nd option:

2. Remove Password from PDF with Ubuntu Terminal
Ubuntu Terminal is an easy and effective way to remove passwords from PDF files for free. This is especially helpful if you have an old PDF that you need to view but you don’t have the password anymore. Here are the steps you need to take:

Open the Terminal by typing “Terminal” into the search bar
Type “ pdftk input_pw output ” to enter the password removal command
Press Enter and you’ve successfully removed the password from the PDF

Had to install the package:

sudo apt  install pdftk-java  # version 3.3.3-1

I tried from the current directory without success. I think the problem lies in the fact that I am logged into my mom’s user, but as “me” the sudoer in terminal, I tried switching to my own user dir. But, of course, the file was not in my home directory, it was in hers.

And I cannot access my own home folders (in file manager) from being logged in as her. So my brain is hurting from trying to think through the proper steps, but I think I need to copy those files to my home folders and then login as me in order to do this?

Thanks,
Sheila

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To me that makes sense. It’s a statement, not a working document. If it were sent in printed format in the mail, you wouldn’t be able to edit it either. Right?

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Have you not downloaded .csv files and imported all of your statements to a spreadsheet for tracking expenses? We bookkeepers have the added benefit of PLAID and other services to give us that now–which we import into apps like Quickbooks, etc. But the financial institution has to use Plaid themselves in order for us to connect bank accounts and get the data.

This is why banks always had several formats available in the past…for people who need that data combined with their other financial data, who are not CPAs, etc.

Sheila

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I want to investigate that.
Options rarely disappear?

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No, I never have.

I could see how accountants would want to import this type of thing, not modify it. I’m saying, it’s a statement. Like someone sent you a bill. Nev had a PDF sent to him by his electric provider, I think, and couldn’t open it for some reason. If you can’t even view it, then that does seem to defeat the purpose.

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.csv files open readily in LOCalc

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I use CSV files all the time…

e.g. export data from things like Service Now or VMware vSphere…

The worst thing about some of them - e.g. save an Excel XLSX file as CSV? Some people insist on putting multiple carriage returns in a single cell, that plays havoc when you want to read it as a text file…

I once spent two whole days trying to get rid of carriage returns in single cells, or columns… It was quite time consuming to do in MS Excel.

Thankfully Service Now can export direct to CSV and doesn’t save those cells with multiple carriage returns, with the carriage returns…

I even have a shell script to display CSV files as if it was a CLI/tty based speadsheet viewer :

╭─x@titan ~/bin  ‹main*› 
╰─➤  bat cli-excel.bash 
───────┬────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
       │ File: cli-excel.bash
───────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
   1   │ #!/usr/bin/env bash
   2   │ # read a csv in the terminal
   3   │ # column -s, -t < eni-linux-list.csv | less -#2 -N -S
   4   │ # expect an input file name
   5   │ PROG=$(basename $0)
   6   │ CSVFILE=$1
   7   │ if [ "$#" -lt 1 ] ; then
   8   │         echo "need argument - expecting a CSV file..."
   9   │     echo "e.g. : $PROG filename.csv"
  10   │         exit 1
  11   │ fi
  12 ~ │ # column -s, -t < $CSVFILE|grep -v \# | less -#2 -N -S
  13 ~ │ # column -s, -t < $CSVFILE|grep -v \# | less -#2 -N -S
  14 ~ │ grep -v \# $CSVFILE | column -s, -t |less -#2 -N -S
───────┴────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
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You have to modify it. For instance, as @daniel.m.tripp indicated, formatting does not always translate correctly, especially if someone who created it used unusual formatting in text of cells.

Those of us who used to use Quicken, always imported our monthly bank statements in order to reconcile the account. It saved time over that printed bank statement. Then there’s the ability to select columns of those statement numbers and get them into categories. Which is what we did by hand, on large ledgers, before computers did our bookkeeping.

The fact that .csv files are no longer offerered, only .pdf, means more manual input. You either have to use a .pdf converter (and even then, translation is lacking when that is converted to .xlsx, .pmdx, etc.) But if you cannot even “copy” payee names & amounts, you are back to what we did when printed statements were received: manually entering that data.

Sheila

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That’s no good for sure.

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I don’t want PDF or paper statements from my bank… I just want online access to my transactions… indefinitely… They used to only let you view/download transactions for previous 6 months - but it seems I can get them “indefinitely” now - e.g. I can now get 2 years worth in one hit if I want… it’s not even that hard (for them).

I can download perfectly acceptable CSV files from my online banking anyway…
That’s all I want or need…

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I think there are a few options.

  1. Every PDF document is protected with a different long random string (e.g. 128 characters). This would make the most sense, as it would indeed result in factually read-only documents. Given the need of banks to keep control over things, I could imagine some bank(s) having a single (long) password on all their documents (or something pseudo-random that is predictable once cracked).
  2. They are indeed using the same password for all their documents (or one per client).

I don’t understand why they don’t use a digital signature to tamper-proof a document. Digital signatures obviously aren’t free, but once you have it, you can use it on all your documents.

If you have a computer with a powerful GPU, you could try releasing John The Ripper on the document and see if it can conjure the password. If they are actually using a long and strong password, those odds might be small. But on the off chance that they use the same password everywhere… it might be worth trying.

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