Other Locking Mailboxes: The Oasis Jr®

Lacking in Security: Vulnerable to Fishing, Prying by Mail Thieves

In Other Locking Mailboxes: Part I, we showcased the Curbside Mailsafe, the Oasis Jr.®, and the Pinnacle locking mailboxes. For a refresher or to watch the video, go here. The quick summary:

The above mentioned “locking” mailboxes, ranging in price from $80 to $200+, do not in our opinion provide mail security or real protection against mail and identity theft. They can be “fished” by hand or opened with very little force by hand or with a screwdriver in just seconds.

In this post, we’re highlighting the Oasis Jr.® Locking Mailbox.

Truth be told, there are dozens of similar mailboxes that have a lock on them and yet do not offer any substantial protection against mail thieves. We picked this product because it is perhaps one of the most popular locking mailbox models, available at Lowe’s and Home Depot, as well as many smaller hardware stores, for the bargain price of around $100+. While I think it’s great that people are thinking to “secure” their mail, I believe it’s misleading that this product is marketed as a “security” mailbox.

Take, for example, this gem I found on YouTube:

This promotional video advertises:

“One of the great features about this mailbox is the hopper door. This is the door that the postal carrier is going to open to drop your mail into the locked cavity down below. When he opens this door, as you can see the back of it closes off which keeps people from reach down in and taking any of your mail, so it is very secure.”

Hmm, that’s strange, because we have demonstrated that you can easily reach into that “secure” door and pull out mail.

Anyway, I commented on the video to point out that, in fact, the hopper door allows you to reach your hand in and take out mail. But lo and behold, the next day my comment was gone. Again, I tried to point out the security inadequacies of this mailbox. And again, my comment was deleted.

I believe consumers have a right to know the truth, and so we made our own little video and put it on YouTube. It’s titled: “Oasis Jr® Locking Mailbox Vulnerable to Fishing and Prying“

This video is our response to the Oasis Locking Mailbox video, which touts the “secure barrier” that prevents fishing. Our video clearly shows that this purported “secure barrier” is ineffective in stopping mail theft: mail and packages can be fished by hand.

In our opinion, a true secure mailbox must be able to prevent simple fishing by hand and withstand sustained prying attempts with a screwdriver. The Oasis Jr® can be fished by hand and popped open with a screwdriver in just seconds by an average sized adult male, and is therefore in our opinion a poor solution to preventing mail identity theft.

And that’s all I have to say about that.

To be continued…

Oasis Jr.® is a registered trademark of Architectural Mailboxes.