Bank heists do not solely happen in Money Heist (La Casa de Papel). In fact, these crimes occur on a daily basis, as you will see from the following bank robbery statistics. Albeit, with the advent of modern technology, they are far less rewarding than people might think.
In this article, we will provide deep insight into bank robberies and how they happen. We will also deliver some interesting facts on the topic of robberies, as well as see some fascinating stories on some of the most notorious bank robberies to date.
Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.
Top 10 Facts and Bank Robbery Statistics for 2024
- Most bank robberies in 2019 happened on a Friday.
- $282 million is the most money ever stolen in a classic bank robbery.
- In 2020, there were zero bank robberies in South Africa.
- The biggest bank robbery ever was led by the former Iraqi president — Saddam Hussein.
- The cyber attacks on banks during the pandemic spiked by 238%.
- There were 2,160 robberies of commercial banks in the US in 2019 alone.
- The first bank robbery in US history happened in 1866.
- The most notorious bank heist in the US happened in California in 1972 and was led by Amill Dinsilo.
- There were a total of 25 injuries sustained during bank robberies in 2019
- Arrested at the ripe old age of 92, J.L. Hunter Rountree is the oldest bank robber in the US.
General Bank Robbery Statistics and Facts
When do most bank robberies happen, and what’s the highest sum of money ever stolen?
1. Most bank robberies in 2019 happened on a Friday.
(Federal Bureau of Investigation)
When to rob a bank? Well, according to the FBI, there were a total of 509 bank robberies in the US that happened on a Friday in 2019, making it the most popular day of the week.
Moreover, the most common time of day for a bank robbery to occur is between 3 and 6 PM.
2. National bank robbery statistics state that a bank’s branch office is the most common target of bank robbers.
(Federal Bureau of Investigation)
In 2019, 2,287 bank robberies happened at branch offices. The second-highest amount of thefts (81) took place at the main office.
3. $282 million is the most money ever stolen in a classic bank robbery.
(Guinness World Records)
This is the second biggest bank robbery recorded so far. It happened in Baghdad, Iraq, where on July 11, 2007, Dar es Salaam Investment Bank was robbed.
This was reported as an inside job. In other words, two or three bank security guards were involved in the mentioned robbery. The thieves managed to run off with $282 million and 220 million Iraqi Dinars (about $173,000).
The robbery might have been linked to the Iraqi Government’s corruption and poor financial management.
4. Bank robbery statistics from 2018 show that there were a total of four deaths accredited to local bank robberies.
(Federal Bureau of Investigation)
All four deaths were, in fact, perpetrator deaths. Luckily, no bystanders or employees were killed during the robberies.
5. 74 was the number of Caucasian women involved in bank crimes in the US in 2019.
(Federal Bureau of Investigation)
In comparison, 929 men involved in bank robberies were Caucasian, 1,100 were African-American, and 145 were African-American women.
6. According to FBI bank robbery statistics, there were 1,338 robberies of commercial banks in the US in 2020 alone.
(Federal Bureau of Investigation)
In addition, there were 5 robberies of mutual savings banks. Savings and loan associations suffered 14 robberies. 133 robberies of credit unions occured in 2020, and 6 robberies of armored carrier companies too.
7. Bank robbery statistics from 2019 imply there were 267,988 robberies nationwide. 1.4% occurred at banks.
(Federal Bureau of Investigation)
Compared to 2018, there was a drop of 4.7%. The robbery rate (81.6 per 100,000 inhabitants) also decreased compared to 2018 by 5.2%.
The banks lost about $482 million due to robberies, or $4,213 per offense. When it comes to weapons, 44.8% of robbers used strong-arm tactics, 36.4% used firearms, and 8.5% used knives or cutting instruments.
8. Bank robbery statistics from 2020 report there were zero bank robberies for 12 months in South Africa.
(BusinessTech) (News24)
In fact, since the 90s, the number of bank robberies in South Africa has been declining, from 561 robberies in 1996/97 to 93 robberies in 2009/10.
The recent bank robberies 2019 data shows that in the mentioned year, the banks were robbed only four times. That said, 2020 was the record year for the country. For the first time in history, there were no recorded bank robberies.
However, the figures do not refer to people being robbed inside the bank, but only the bank itself being robbed.
9. The cyber attacks on banks during the pandemic spiked by 238%.
(Info Security) (Mcgill Media)
Recent bank robberies 2020 statistics (from February to the end of April) suggest that 27% of cyber attacks were aimed at the healthcare or financial sectors.
Chase Bank was also the victim of hacking, despite their online controls. On June 27, 2020, several bank accounts were compromised. While some customers lost considerable amounts of money, others noticed they had extra cash added to their accounts.
10. South Florida witnessed a rise in bank robbing due to the pandemic.
(Sun Sentinel) (Creative Industries)
Criminals in South Florida used the pandemic for their own benefit since walking into banks wearing surgical masks and gloves became the new normal.
We still don’t know how many bank robberies in 2020 were helped by the pandemic. Nevertheless, other states like California, Texas, Georgia, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Illinois also reported bank robberies by criminals wearing surgical COVID-19 masks.
Due to the safety measurements, numerous banks started using online banking and ATMs. Some banks even ask their customers to remove their masks to be recorded by the security camera for later identification.
Discouraging Bank Robbery Statistics
How many bank robbers get caught, and why?
11. Bank robbers John Mogan and Ashley Duboe were caught shortly after posting a selfie online where they posed with the cash they’d stolen.
(NY Daily News)
It seems you don’t need to pass an IQ test to rob a bank. Upon posting said pictures on Facebook, these two were quickly identified by the police and were promptly arrested for the bank robbery that occurred in 2015.
12. In 2012, Hannah Sabata was arrested for committing a bank robbery after posting a video about her crime on YouTube.
(HuffPost)
An average bank robbery success rate is very much compromised by technology at times. Or someone’s illogical decisions. The cash and the keys to the Pontiac Grand Am she’d stolen were clearly visible in the video. She’d robbed the Cornerstone Bank in Waco, Texas, with a note saying that she had a loaded gun.
She ordered the employee not to ring any alarms, use any phones or ink bags. She also said that they had two minutes to hand over the cash.
What was her motive? Paying off her college debts and going on a shopping spree.
13. A successful bank robbery may not be worth the money as the average US bank robbery in 2017 resulted in a measly $3,483 loss.
(KSLA)
On the other hand, the average property loss was around $1,373. This just goes to show that bank robberies are not as lucrative as people would believe (well played, Hollywood).
Interesting Historical Bank Robbery Story Facts
What were the most famous bank robberies throughout history?
14. The first bank robbery in the US happened in 1866.
(Crime Museum)
The first bank robbery in the US was committed on February 13, 1866, in Liberty, Missouri. The heist was led by associates of the infamous brothers, Jesse James and Frank James. They managed to rob the Clay County Savings Association. They stole an astounding $60,000!
15. The Dunbar Armored robbery was the biggest bank robbery in US history.
(Greg Tsioros)
One of the biggest cash robberies in the US happened on September 12, 1997, when a group of robbers managed to get inside the Dunbar Armored facility in L.A., California, and steal about $18.9 million.
With Allen Pace III as the leader of the operation, the perpetrators avoided capture for more than two years. After being arrested by the police, Allen Pace was sentenced to 24 years in prison.
The mentioned heist has been known as the biggest bank robbery in California. Out of the $18.9 million, only $5 million was recovered. Nobody knows what happened to the rest of the money.
16. The “trench coat robbers,” Ray Lewis Bowman and William Arthur Kirkpatrick, were accused of robbing 28 banks between 1982 and 1997.
(AP News)
The criminal duo wore numerous disguises and trench coats during their robberies. The pair were considered one of the most successful bank robbers of their time.
However, mistakes were made in 1997, and they were both identified. As a result, the two were arrested shortly after.
17. According to the movie review website Rotten Tomatoes, Baby Driver is the highest-rated movie of all the bank robbery movies on the site.
(Rotten Tomatoes)
The 2017 movie, directed by Edgar Wright and starring Ansel Elgort, received a whopping score of 92% on the popular film review site.
18. The wealthy heiress, Patty Hearst, was abducted in 1974 only to become a violent bank robber shortly after.
(NZ Herald)
According to a bank robbery article, she was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) and pledged her allegiance to the group shortly afterward.
After getting arrested, she only spent 22 months in prison. Upon being freed, she claimed that she had been a victim of Stockholm syndrome.
19. The most notorious bank heist in the US happened in California in 1972 and was led by Amill Dinsilo.
(WorldAtlas) (WFMJ)
Dinsilo used his nephews, his brother-in-law, and two experts on alarms to rob the United California Bank in Laguna Niguel.
They made off with around $12 million (not counting gold coins and jewelry), a shocking amount in today’s money worth, and they would have made it if the crime hadn’t been connected with an earlier robbery in Ohio.
20. One of the most famous unsolved bank robberies was the hacking of the SWIFT system in 2016.
(Reader’s Digest)
The hackers managed to send forged requests for money to the Federal Reserve Bank in New York via SWIFT, an electronic transfer payment system.
They got away with $81 million, and it would have been even more if they had not misspelled the word “foundation,” which caused their request to be flagged. Electronic transfer systems of all kinds are a favorite among cybercriminals.
21. The biggest bank heist on the planet was led by the former Iraqi president — Saddam Hussein.
(MoneyWise)
The biggest bank robbery in history took place a day before the Iraq war broke out in 2003 when Saddam Hussein sent huge trucks and his own son to the Central Bank in Iraq.
Employees of the bank were instructed to hand over almost $1 billion in cash so that Hussein could keep it “safe” from his enemies.
The majority of the money was later found during raids. A substantial amount of it was then stolen by US soldiers. 35 of them were caught red-handed.
22. Surprisingly, the biggest bank robbery in South Africa took place without any threat of violence.
(BusinessTech)
Five bankers stole a total of 1.5 billion South African Rands from the VBS Mutual Bank by siphoning money off its accounts. This works out to around $114 million, making it one of the most recent bank robberies with such a massive amount of cash being stolen.
23. Arrested at the ripe old age of 92, J.L. Hunter Rountree is the oldest bank robber in the US, bank robbery statistics imply.
(CNN)
Rountree, also known by his nickname “Red,” was sentenced to 12 years in prison back in 2004 for stealing $1,999 from a bank in Texas. Before becoming a bank robber, Rountree was a Texas businessman.
The man claimed that he began robbing banks at the age of 80 as he was blaming the banking industry for his financial problems.
24. According to bank robbery statistics in Los Angeles, 1992 was the worst year when it comes to bank robberies.
(Crime Reads)
Between the period 1985 and 1995, about 3,500 retail bank branches were attacked 17,106 times. That said, in 1992 alone, there were 2,641 heists, i.e., 1 in every 45 minutes.
By the end of the year, robbery-related losses were higher than fraud-related losses for the first time in history.
25. Bank robbery facts show Bonnie Parker was probably the most infamous female bank robber.
(CNBC)
Everybody heard the story about the famous couple, Bonnie and Clyde, who managed to stay on the run from the authorities for years. The infamous couple was killed by the police on May 23, 1934. They were shot 167 times.
Other notorious female bank robbers throughout history include Cora Hubbard and Ma Barker.
FAQs
How many bank robberies occur each year?
Each year there are approximately 3,000–4,000 bank robberies. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in 2019, out of 267,988 robberies, 1.4% were linked to banks. In addition, banks lost an estimated $482 million due to robberies. In other words, $4,213 per offense.
In 2017, there were about 4,000 bank robberies in the US. In 2018, there were 2,975, in 2019 there were 2,405, and in 2020 there were 1,778 bank robberies.
How common is a bank robbery?
Bank heists make up around 2% of all robberies. So, despite what the movies say about bank heists, bank robberies are not all that common. In fact, merely 2 out of every 100 robberies concern a bank.
Likewise, the chances of catching a bank robber on the scene are higher than catching other criminal offenders. Why?
First of all, robberies mainly occur during the day. Secondly, they are quickly reported. And lastly, they are done in front of multiple witnesses and let’s not forget about the security footage.
What state has the most bank robberies?
Without any doubt, California is the state with the highest number of bank robberies. The most recent data shows there were 183 reported bank robberies in the Golden State in 2020. Next in line were New York (94), Colorado (91), Texas (87), Arizona (86), and Florida (76).
When it comes to the region, the West had the highest number of bank robberies in 2020 — 532, followed by the South region (430), the North Central (279), and the Northeast region (259).
Who has robbed the most banks?
Carl Gugasian, otherwise known as the Friday Night Bank Robber, is one of the most notorious bank robbers of all time. He robbed more than 50 East Coast banks during the 30-year period in which he operated. Gugasian committed his first robbery at the tender age of 15.
He was also known for wearing a Freddy Krueger mask. He was meticulous about everything from the baggy clothes he wore to the way he robbed banks.
What percentage of bank robberies are successful?
Not many, given that there’s a high chance that the robbers will be caught by the authorities in a matter of hours.
For example, in 2017, the authorities managed to solve 86% of cases linked to bank heists. In contrast, in the period between 2015 and 2016, the clearance rate was 79%.
Why such a successful rate? Thanks to technology that’s becoming more and more advanced. Today, the banks have motion sensors, surveillance cameras, and silent teller alarms. Apart from that, there are GPS tracking devices hidden inside the money.
What percentage of bank robberies go unsolved?
The most recent data says 14% of bank robbery cases went unresolved. It is hard to tell the exact number since not all bank robberies get resolved in the year they were committed. The FBI resolved in 2020 a string of robberies from 2016.
Based on bank robbery statistics, the most famous unresolved world robberies are the robbery of the British Bank of the Middle East in 1976 and the Dar Es Salaam Bank heist in 2007.
When it comes to the first heist, the criminals managed to get away with $44.5 million in cash, jewels, gold bars, stocks, and other valuables. No one was ever arrested for the mentioned crime, and the loot was never found.
In the Dar Es Salaam Bank heist, the perpetrators managed to steal $282 million. They were never caught either.
How many banks get robbed a day?
Based on the available data, we can say that there are roughly 7–11 robberies per day.
For example, in 2020 there were 1,788 bank robberies. 1,338 were linked to commercial banks. In 2017, there were around 4,000 bank robberies while in 2019 there were 2,405 robberies.
Other robberies in 2020 were associated with Credit Unions (133), while only 5 robberies were connected with Mutual Savings Banks.
Bottom Line
Bank robberies may seem glamorous when you see them on the big screen, but what the above-mentioned bank robbery statistics and facts show is that this crime isn’t always as rewarding.
Many bank robberies end up with the perpetrators getting caught and the money recovered, so their personal finances don’t get improved one bit. So, don’t quit your day job just yet, and leave all the bank-robbing for the silver screen.
Sources:
- AP News
- BusinessTech
- BusinessTech
- Center for Problem-Oriented Policing
- CNBC
- Justice.gov
- CNN
- Creative Industries
- Crime Museum
- Crime Reads
- Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Gangland Wire
- Greg Tsioros
- Guinness World Records
- HuffPost
- KSLA
- Moneywise
- News24
- NY Daily News
- NY Post
- NZ Herald
- Quad-City Times
- Reader’s Digest
- Rotten Tomatoes
- Sun Sentinel
- TBS
- WFMJ
