This was really the opposite experience I had when I was a teller in a bank. The amounts were similar but the chance of getting caught was slim. We had a binder of local bank roberies that we updated when the person was caught. It was usually rare for a person to get caught unless they were really dumb about te roberery (told someone such as friend they thought they could trust or their license was recorded) or they got greedy and came back several times. The banks never pursued the robbers very hard because the money was all insured. If a robber was smart he would tell the teller to not put a dye pack in the money and we were always instructed to follow those kinds of orders ... There was no reason to be a hero. Also if you ever want to rob a bank don't threaten that you have a weapon ... Armed robbery is a much more severe punishment than unarmed.
The FBI says the modern bank robber walks in, gives the teller a note, takes the money and leaves within 90 seconds. He never carries a weapon and gets less than $2k, but if he's reasonably smart he can rob 30-40 banks before being caught.
That's terrible pay, when you think about it. You're always on the road, and you spend a couple days on each bank. You might as well sell insurance for a living.
I think robbers know that, too. Bank robbing is old school. Robbing Gas pumps also has gotten too risky to be worth the trouble; they keep way less money around than they used to and they have video recorders everywhere. So, nowadays, your best bet is mom and pop shops, at least that is what I read in the papers :-)
