Most Notorious Heists in History: Infamous Robberies & Masterminds

A great heist film often shows a mastermind assembling a team of specialists who spend months planning a single, daring break-in. They must bypass motion and heat sensors, evade cameras and face impossible odds to steal vast sums. Surprisingly, reality sometimes matches cinema: many real-life heists are so elaborate and astonishing that they would seem implausible on screen.

Below are some of the most remarkable heists in history, ranked by how incredible they were.

15. The Seymour Train Robbery

Location: Seymour, Indiana

Date: Oct. 6, 1866

Amount stolen: $18,000

Bottom Line: The Seymour Train Robbery

The Reno Gang, active in the Midwest from 1865 to 1868, pioneered the moving train robbery. On the night of Oct. 6, 1866, John Reno, Sim Reno and Frank Sparkes boarded an Ohio and Mississippi Railway car and confronted the messenger Elam Miller, demanding safe keys. Miller handed over a key to a smaller safe, which contained about $18,000 in cash, jewelry and packages.

Unable to open the larger vault on board, the robbers shoved the heavy safe off the moving train and triggered an emergency stop. They jumped off and fled into the night, abandoning the massive safe because it was too heavy to carry. The Reno Gang went on to rob several more trains before members were eventually captured and lynched by mobs. The site where some members were hanged later became known as Hangman Crossing, Indiana.

14. Central Bank of Iraq Heist

Location: Baghdad, Iraq

Date: March 18, 2003

Amount stolen: $1 billion

Bottom Line: Central Bank of Iraq Heist

On the eve of the U.S. bombing of Baghdad, Saddam Hussein ordered a mass withdrawal from the Central Bank of Iraq, authorizing the removal of roughly $900 million to $1 billion. Bank officials complied: three trucks loaded with cash left the bank and the money was flown to Kuwait. The withdrawal aimed to keep funds out of insurgent hands, but what followed became a prolonged controversy.

When the U.S. Coalition Provisional Authority later assumed control, large sums of the cash went missing. Investigations found that some U.S. service members and civilian contractors had taken money, often sending it home or spending it. Dozens of service members were later convicted for stealing portions of the funds.

13. Dresden Green Vault Heist

Location: Dresden, Saxony, Germany

Date: Nov. 25, 2019

Amount stolen: Up to €1 billion

Bottom Line: Dresden Green Vault Heist

The Green Vault inside Dresden Castle houses one of Europe’s greatest treasure collections. In the early hours of Nov. 25, 2019, thieves cut power to the museum by setting a fire at a nearby electrical distribution point, then smashed a small corner window to access the historic jewelry rooms. Wearing headlamps, they shattered display cases and removed priceless jewels.

Initial estimates of the haul reached as high as €1 billion, though later appraisals were lower. The robbers fled in an Audi A6, which they burned in an underground parking lot to cover their tracks. By December 2022, authorities had arrested several suspects and recovered a portion of the stolen items, including 31 pieces returned to the museum.

12. The Hatton Garden Job

Location: London, England

Date: April 2, 2015

Amount stolen: £14 million

Bottom Line: Hatton Garden Job

The Hatton Garden heist stands out because many of the perpetrators were older men—so-called “Grandads’ Gang.” They entered the building via an elevator shaft, forced open shutter doors in the basement and used a heavy-duty drill to bore into a safe that was encased in six-and-a-half feet of reinforced concrete. Prior to the robbery, the gang also tampered with the security system using a 2G mobile jammer to block alarm signals.

Once inside, they opened roughly 70 deposit boxes. Initial reports greatly overestimated the haul; investigations later set the loss at about £14 million. Several ringleaders and accomplices were convicted and imprisoned.

11. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Theft

Location: Boston, Massachusetts

Date: March 18, 1990

Amount stolen: $500 million

Bottom Line: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Theft

In the early hours of March 18, 1990, two men posing as police officers gained entry to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum after a guard let them in. They tied up the guards and spent 81 minutes removing 13 works of art, including pieces by Rembrandt, Degas and Manet, as well as a French Imperial Eagle and an ancient Chinese vessel. The stolen works remain missing and the case continues to intrigue the public and investigators.

10. Banco Central Burglary at Fortaleza

Location: Fortaleza, Brazil

Date: Aug. 6, 2005

Amount stolen: 160 million Brazilian real

Bottom Line: Banco Central Burglary

This meticulously planned heist involved digging a 256-foot tunnel from a rented commercial property into the Banco Central vault. The criminals moved massive amounts of soil under the cover of a front landscaping business, then broke through 3.5 feet of steel-reinforced concrete to reach the cash. Authorities arrested dozens of suspects over time, but only a portion of the stolen money was ever recovered.

9. Dunbar Armed Robbery

Location: Los Angeles, California

Date: Sept. 12, 1997

Amount stolen: $18.9 million

Bottom Line: Dunbar Armed Robbery

Allen Pace, a Dunbar safety inspector, studied the facility for months and assembled a crew of former friends to carry out the robbery. They exploited knowledge of camera blind spots, tied up guards and removed VCR tapes to delay detection. A U-Haul was loaded with $18.9 million in cash without violence. The crew was eventually identified when a member spent marked bills; only about $5 million was recovered.

8. Northern Bank Robbery

Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland

Date: Dec. 20, 2004

Amount stolen: £26.5 million

Bottom Line: Northern Bank Robbery

Armed men abducted two bank employees from their homes, held their families hostage and forced the employees to help remove £25.5 million after the bank closed. The perpetrators maintained contact with the coerced employees via mobile phones to direct the operation. No one was ever convicted for the robbery itself, though money-laundering convictions did follow. The IRA was widely suspected of involvement.

7. Nokas Robbery

Location: Stavanger, Norway

Date: April 5, 2004

Amount stolen: 57.4 million kroner

Bottom Line: Nokas Robbery

Eleven heavily armed robbers attacked the Nokas cash handling facility during Easter weekend. They used a diversion—burning a truck and deploying tear gas at the local police station—to delay response. Inside the facility they used heavy weapons to smash through bullet-proof windows and loaded duffel bags with cash. A police officer was killed during the escape. Authorities later arrested and convicted multiple perpetrators, but a large sum remained missing.

6. Knightsbridge Security Deposit Robbery

Location: London, England

Date: July 12, 1987

Amount stolen: $98 million

Bottom Line: Knightsbridge Security Deposit Robbery

Valerio Viccei and accomplices posed as clients, produced hidden handguns, restrained staff and then looted hundreds of safety deposit boxes. They accessed 113 boxes and made off with millions in cash, jewels and valuables. A fingerprint led to Viccei’s arrest; only a fraction of the stolen wealth was recovered. Viccei later died after being shot during a violent encounter following his release to Italy.

5. Société Générale Bank Heist

Location: Nice, France

Date: July 19, 1976

Amount stolen: 30 million–100 million francs

Bottom Line: Société Générale Heist

Albert Spaggiari and a crew tunneled from a nearby sewer into the Société Générale vault over months, using heavy equipment and careful concealment of their work. They entered the vault from below, ransacked safe deposit boxes and welded the vault door from inside to delay discovery. Estimates of the haul vary widely; the thieves left a note on the vault wall that read “sans armes, ni haine, ni violence”—without weapons, hatred or violence. Spaggiari escaped custody at one point and spent the rest of his life largely in hiding.

4. The Wilcox Train Robbery

Location: Wilcox, Wyoming

Date: June 2, 1899

Amount stolen: $50,000

Bottom Line: Wilcox Train Robbery

Members of the Wild Bunch stopped a Union Pacific train by signaling an emergency, boarded and separated the locomotive from the rest of the train. They then detonated explosives under a bridge to isolate the car, used dynamite to blow open the messenger’s cab and safe, and fled with the loot. The gang’s actions were violent and dramatic; much of the money was never recovered.

3. United California Bank Burglary

Location: Laguna Niguel, California

Date: March 24, 1972

Amount stolen: $30 million

Bottom Line: United California Bank Burglary

A Youngstown, Ohio, crew led by Amil Dinsio cut through a bank roof, entered the vault, drilled and used explosives to blow a hole into the safe. Although rumors claimed the gang sought dirty political cash, the actual haul included bonds, coins, jewelry and cash. The FBI linked this burglary to similar crimes and later apprehended the gang; Dinsio served decades in prison. The heist inspired the film “Finding Steve McQueen.”

2. Nationalmuseum Robbery

Location: Stockholm, Sweden

Date: Dec. 22, 2000

Amount stolen: $30 million–$55 million

Bottom Line: Nationalmuseum Robbery

Explosions at nearby hotels and a brazen armed entry allowed thieves to grab three masterpieces—a Rembrandt self-portrait and two Renoirs—during museum hours. The robbers escaped by motorboat and attempted to hamper pursuit by scattering nails. One Renoir turned up during an unrelated police operation; other works were recovered later through international investigations and undercover operations. Several suspects were arrested and convicted.

1. Antwerp Diamond Heist

Location: Antwerp, Belgium

Date: Feb. 15–16, 2003

Amount stolen: $100 million

Bottom Line: Antwerp Diamond Heist

Considered one of the most sophisticated thefts ever, the Antwerp Diamond Heist was masterminded by Leonardo Notarbartolo. Over 18 months he posed as a diamond dealer to study the Antwerp Diamond Center’s vault, which was protected by infrared detectors, Doppler radar, seismic sensors and a three-ton steel door. The team used hidden cameras, tampered with heat sensors and practiced on a replica vault built with insider help. Despite the elaborate planning and execution, most of the loot was never recovered. Notarbartolo and several accomplices were arrested, but many of the diamonds remain missing.

These heists demonstrate how real-world crimes can match—or even surpass—the ingenuity and audacity of fictional capers. Whether through patience, inside knowledge, technical skill or brute force, each of these thefts left a lasting mark on criminal history and the public imagination.