Mailbox Robbery

Mailbox Robbery is the best paying of the three street robberies, and the only one that can hand you back the very tool you used to open it. That makes it the crime a broke character can bootstrap from — but the police are alerted every single time.

Overview

• Type: Street robbery (world prop, no mission)
• Level required: none
• Where: Any post box or letterbox on the map — no GPS
• Payout: Black money (dirty), or a free lockpick, or nothing
• Risk: High for the money — dispatch is alerted every time

Requirements

You need one of these two tools. Either works.

Item	Spawn code	Where to get	Notes
Lockpick	lockpick	General/hardware shop — or from this job itself	Used from your inventory
Crowbar	weapon_crowbar	Weapon/tool shop	Must be equipped in your hand

• Lockpick: about 10 seconds. Crowbar: about 8 seconds.
• The crowbar does not add police risk here — the alert fires either way.
• Mailboxes can drop a lockpick, so a single lockpick often pays for a long session.

How to Start

No menu and no job to accept. Carry a lockpick (or hold a crowbar), find a post box on the street, and use the target / third-eye button on it.

📍 Locations

• Start: any mailbox prop in the world — the blue street post boxes and the small residential letterboxes both count. They are everywhere: suburban streets in Vinewood, Mirror Park, Sandy Shores and Paleto Bay have the highest density. No GPS marker.
• Sell: none. The reward is handed straight to you. Launder it at Money Wash before you spend it.

Step-by-Step

1. Get a tool. Buy a lockpick, or equip a weapon_crowbar.
2. Find a mailbox and aim the target button at it.
3. Pick your method — Lockpick (needs the item) or Break Open (needs the crowbar in hand).
4. Watch the knock emote, then beat the minigame. A fail locks the box for nothing.
5. Wait out the progress bar — about 8–10 seconds — then collect what it rolled.
6. Leave. The police were called the moment you started.
7. Move on. That mailbox is on a 30-minute cooldown.

What You Get & Where to Sell It

Nothing to sell — everything is handed to you on the spot.

Item	Spawn code	What it's for	Notes
Black Money	black_money	Dirty cash — launder it before spending	$100 per successful hit — best of the three street crimes
Lockpick	lockpick	The same tool you rob with — keeps you supplied	Roughly one in four boxes
(nothing)	—	—	A good share of boxes are empty

How much money total? Around $35 per mailbox on average, plus a steady drip of free lockpicks. Take the dirty cash to Money Wash to turn it into spendable cash.

💰 Cost vs Reward

	Amount
Investment (one-time)	One lockpick (or a weapon_crowbar)
Cost per run	~$0 — the tool is not consumed, and the job returns lockpicks
Reward per mailbox	$100 black money when it pays, ~$35 averaged
Break-even	One or two paying boxes
After that	Effectively free money — the lockpick drops keep you stocked

Tips & Common Mistakes

• Work the suburbs, not Downtown. Residential streets are dense with letterboxes and thin on police patrols.
• Use the crowbar if you have one — faster, and no extra heat.
• Keep the lockpicks you find. This is the only robbery on the server that restocks its own tool.
• Don't stand still after the reward pops. Dispatch already has the call.
• Don't rob a box you just failed — it is locked for 30 minutes either way.

FAQ

How much does a mailbox pay?

$100 in black money when it pays out — the highest of the three street robberies. Averaged across the empty ones, expect about $35 per mailbox, plus a lockpick roughly one time in four.

Do mailboxes always alert the police?

Yes. Every attempt calls dispatch, regardless of tool and regardless of whether you find anything. Rob and move.

Can I start with no money at all?

Almost. You need one lockpick to begin, and because mailboxes drop lockpicks fairly often, that single purchase usually funds an entire session. It is the cheapest crime to bootstrap from.

How long is the mailbox cooldown?

30 minutes per individual mailbox, after a success or a failed minigame. Other mailboxes are unaffected.

Which street robbery is best?

Mailboxes pay the most and restock your lockpicks, but they always call the police. Parking Meters pay the least and are the only ones the cops sometimes miss. Vending Machines sit in the middle.

Related Guides

• Parking Meter Robbery
• Vending Machine Robbery
• Money Wash
• All robbery guides · Full server guidebook