A hold-up is a robbery, it usually consists in getting in a bank, a store or any kind of lucrative establishment so as to steal the cash box. Hold-ups may be armed robberies, and victims are under weapon threat and therefore are compelled to obey the robbers. Softer hold-ups can be performed, by reaching the money when it is not watched out for instance.

Many hold-ups remained very famous, due to the importance of the amount of money stolen, or due to the original way it was performed. Among the famous hold-ups, we can quote the hold-up done by Albert Spaggiari and his partners, who passed through the sewer to steal 7 millions dollars in 1976 in South of France. This hold-up, such as the Lloyd's Bank of London one in 1971, have inspired the scenarios of different movies.

Thieves considered as heroes are recurring characters of movies, whether they are based on true stories or not. The Ocean's trilogy uses this topic of hero robber, and presents a group of thieves gathering so as to steal casinos in a non violent way. The Wigs Gang truly existed, and its member have been considered as modern Arsene Lupin for a long time. As a matter of fact they attacked about thirty banks with a rare boldness, and were even kind with the hostages.