Most Daring Heists Ever Pulled Off

Antwerp Diamond Heist

Thieves cracked a supposedly impenetrable vault using little more than hairspray to fool sensors and walked off with a fortune in gems.

Year: 2003Value Stolen: $100,000,000Loot Recovered?: —Audacity: 9.5/10

added by IJRin 2 rankingsAntwerp Diamond Heist

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Theft

Two men dressed as police talked their way into a Boston museum and vanished with masterpieces still missing decades later.

Year: 1990Value Stolen: $500,000,000Loot Recovered?: —Audacity: 9.3/10

added by IJRIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum theft

Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Burglary

A crew of aging career criminals drilled into London's diamond district over a bank holiday weekend in one last, absurdly bold score.

Year: 2015Value Stolen: $20,000,000Loot Recovered?: ✓Audacity: 8.8/10

added by IJRHatton Garden safe deposit burglary

Great Train Robbery

A gang ambushed a Royal Mail train and made off with sacks of cash, becoming instant British folk legends.

Year: 1963Value Stolen: $7,000,000Loot Recovered?: —Audacity: 8.7/10

added by IJR

Lufthansa Heist

The JFK airport cargo robbery immortalized in Goodfellas remains one of the largest unsolved cash heists in U.S. history.

Year: 1978Value Stolen: $6,000,000Loot Recovered?: —Audacity: 8.5/10

added by IJRLufthansa heist

Brink's-Mat Robbery

A raid meant for cash turned into a gold bullion bonanza that spawned decades of laundering, betrayal, and murder.

Year: 1983Value Stolen: $39,000,000Loot Recovered?: —Audacity: 8.6/10

added by IJRBrink's-MAT robbery

Northern Bank Robbery

Armed men allegedly linked to the IRA held bank staff's families hostage overnight to force a record-breaking cash haul.

Year: 2004Value Stolen: $50,000,000Loot Recovered?: —Audacity: 8.4/10

added by IJRNorthern Bank robbery

Banco Central Heist

A gang spent months tunneling underground from a rented house straight into Brazil's central bank vault.

Year: 2005Value Stolen: $70,000,000Loot Recovered?: —Audacity: 9/10

added by IJR

Graff Diamonds Robbery

Two men in prosthetic disguises talked their way into a Mayfair jeweler and walked out with millions in diamonds.

Year: 2009Value Stolen: $65,000,000Loot Recovered?: ✓Audacity: 8.2/10

added by IJRGraff Diamonds robbery

Baker Street Bank Robbery

Burglars tunneled under a barber shop into a bank vault, only to be foiled by a ham radio operator picking up their chatter.

Year: 1971Value Stolen: $1,200,000Loot Recovered?: —Audacity: 7.8/10

added by IJR

Dunbar Armored Robbery

An inside man orchestrated the largest cash heist in U.S. history by simply having his own coworkers hand over the money.

Year: 1997Value Stolen: $18,900,000Loot Recovered?: ✓Audacity: 7.5/10

added by IJRDunbar Armored robbery

Securitas Depot Robbery (Kent)

Kidnappers forced a depot manager to open Britain's biggest cash center at gunpoint, netting a jaw-dropping sum.

Year: 2006Value Stolen: $92,000,000Loot Recovered?: ✓Audacity: 8.9/10

added by IJR

Millennium Dome Diamond Heist

Robbers rammed a JCB digger into London's Millennium Dome to grab a $350 million diamond — unaware police had already swapped it for fakes.

Year: 2000Value Stolen: $350,000,000Loot Recovered?: ✓Audacity: 9.1/10

added by IJR

Harry Winston Paris Heist

Thieves disguised as women in wigs strolled into a Paris flagship boutique and cleared out the display cases.

Year: 2008Value Stolen: $105,000,000Loot Recovered?: ✓Audacity: 8.1/10

added by IJR

Carlton Hotel Cannes Diamond Heist

A lone gunman in sunglasses and a hat raided a jewelry exhibition at a luxury hotel in under a minute, vanishing without a trace.

Year: 2013Value Stolen: $136,000,000Loot Recovered?: —Audacity: 8.3/10

added by IJR

Loomis Fargo Robbery

A disgruntled vault supervisor in North Carolina simply loaded millions into a van and drove off, sparking a comedic manhunt.

Year: 1997Value Stolen: $17,000,000Loot Recovered?: ✓Audacity: 7/10

added by IJR

Iraqi Central Bank Heist

On the eve of the U.S. invasion, Saddam Hussein's son reportedly ordered nearly a billion dollars in cash trucked out overnight.

Year: 2003Value Stolen: $1,000,000,000Loot Recovered?: ✓Audacity: 9.4/10

added by IJR