Electronic safes can be broken into within seconds
A CONSUMER Watch reader’s discovery that his electronic safe could be broken into easily within seconds has led to a national recall of the safe, made under several brand names.
Kevin Moore of Durban North first shared his discovery with me in late August. He’d bought his Armour Electronic Safe from Makro for R469 in March, because he’d noticed that money was being stolen out of the key safe he kept in his home.
“I thought the electronic safe would solve the problem,” he said.
But it didn’t. When he realised that during the course of three weeks several thousand rand had disappeared from the electronic safe, which he’d fitted into a bedroom cupboard, he was bewildered.
“Only I knew the code and only I had the override keys.”
At the end of July, he set a trap for his domestic worker by marking several banknotes. The following day, he checked the money in the safe, and found that R1 000 was missing.
His domestic worker denied taking the money, but a search of her accommodation turned up the marked notes and a “little black book” with people’s names, dates and amounts she had allegedly loaned them.
The woman has been charged with theft and is on bail pending the court case.
“I asked her many times how she’d managed to get into the safe, but of course, she wasn’t about to incriminate herself, so I turned to YouTube for answers instead,” Moore says.
There he found videos demonstrating how it can be done, easily, within two seconds, and without any tools. For obvious reasons, I’m not going to describe the method.
“I tried it myself and to my astonishment, the safe opened,” Moore said. “There is no way I can recover my stolen funds, but I think it pertinent that the public be made aware just how useless these safes are.
“I can’t believe they weren’t tested before putting them on the market.
“Losing cash is one thing, but many people put guns in those safes. Failing to secure one’s gun is a criminal offence. How would they explain to the police that their gun was stolen from a safe, when there’s no sign of forced entry?”
Alarmed, Consumer Watch approached Makro. “After reading Kevin Moore’s e-mail,” I wrote: “I will never again entrust my valuables to one of these safes in a hotel room.”
A few days later, Makro responded: “Our team at head office has tested all models of this safe in our business, in conjunction with the supplier, hence the delay in responding. We received feedback from the factory and they were unable to access the safe using the method demonstrated in the (YouTube) video. However, we think further testing is required. As a precautionary measure, we are also placing the stock in quarantine.” That was on September 4. I went back to Moore with that news and he then sent me a video he’d made of himself getting into his own safe using the method in question – three times in less than 10 seconds. I forwarded it to Makro.
“How the manufacturers can claim that they can’t get into the safe is beyond me,” Moore said.
Well, things moved rather rapidly and drastically after that. Massmart involved the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) and the National Consumer Commission, culminating in a massive recall of electronic safes.
Recall notices, placed by Massmart in accordance with the Consumer Protection Act, were placed in the media.
In the case of Massmart brands – Makro, Game, Builders Warehouse, Builders Trade Depot, Builders Express and Builders Superstore – 61 079 of the safes were sold, under the brand names Armour, Stramm, Gladiator and Cobolt.
“The results of SABS testing confirmed that the locking mechanism was defective,” said Massmart’s group communication manager Annaleigh Vallie, “and that the safes could also be accessed by using basic hand tools”.
Or just hands, as Moore proved so conclusively.
“We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused to our customers.”
The National Consumer Commission, as custodian of the Consumer Protection Act, requires products to comply with relevant standards.
“This brings the SABS into the equation – the relevant standard is SANS 751 for general purpose safes,” Vallie said.
“This is what we had our product tested against.”
Prudence Moilwa, head of enforcement and investigations at the National Consumer Commission, said the safe standard was not compulsory, as with products to do with safety, but was a voluntary quality standard.
“This is a sensitive issue, as consumers need to be alerted to the fact that their safes may not be secure, but can you imagine this information in the hands of criminals.?”
Consumer Watch suspects many a criminal is aware of the issue, as Moore’s experience suggests. It’s consumers who need to be alerted.
Moilwa said the commission would consult the SABS with regard to the issue of extending the recall to electronic safes sold by other retailers.
Makro cardholders will be advised directly of the recall and returns will be processed at the stores from which they were pur- chased. No proof of purchase will be required.
Moore is delighted his complaint was acted upon decisively. “I feel I’ve done a good deed,” he said.
He won’t be taking his safe back to Makro for a refund just yet, as he intends to produce it as an exhibit at his former employee’s trial.
If you are using one of these safes and it wasn’t purchased from a Massmart store, you may want to make other arrangements to secure your valuables until the consumer commission clarifies the issue about safes bought from other retailers.