Tough times or not, these guys would've done it anyway. Unless you're very skilled at bringing physical harm onto another, do as Rigsby suggested. If you ARE very skilled, well, you wouldn't have posted here or anywhere. Things would have already been taken care of....
In the future when sums of cash are involved, have your buddy/ies get license plate numbers and have a gun at hand but outa sight. Remember though, you ONLY pull down on someone with the FULL intent to pull the trigger. It will be a life changing instance if you do.
This is an eye opener and it COULD have been worse,...THEY could've been pulling down on YOU...Lesson learned
good Luck to ya.