Posts falsely claim Australian arrested for trying to take out cash

"The world needs to understand what is happening in Australia... This man went to take $5,000 out his own bank account and was arrested for it," reads part of the caption of a Facebook video shared on May 19, 2025.

The video shows a man being hauled out of a Commonwealth Bank branch by several police officers and being bundled into a police van.

Text overlaid on the video says: "All he wanted was his cash.. bank said no."

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Screenshot of the false Facebook post, captured on May 22, 2025

The same clip proliferated across Facebook, Instagram, and X. 

"He was arrested for wanting access to his own funds. This isn't fiction. This is the war on cash -- and it's already here," read a comment on one of the posts.

AFP has previously debunked similar posts about Australia moving towards a cashless society.

The man shown in the video, however, was not arrested for withdrawing his own money.

Signage for Redfern Street, a store called PT Beauty and Nails and the blue logo of law firm Pocket Legal can all be seen in the video in the vicinity of the Commonwealth Bank branch. 

Google Earth Street View imagery shows the bank is located at the intersection of Redfern and Renwick streets in Redfern, a suburb of Sydney (archived link). 

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Screenshot comparison of the circulating video (left) and the location of the bank on Google Earth (right)

 AFP was able to confirm with New South Wales police the incident was unrelated to the bank barring a customer from withdrawing his money, but rather a 27-year-old man who turned violent when he tried to withdraw money from his account with no available funds.

A spokesperson for the police told AFP on May 21 authorities were called to "a bank on Redfern Street, Redfern, following reports of a man being abusive to staff and other customers" on the morning of January 18, 2024. 

He had also damaged a desk and a protection window, and police told him to leave the bank. 

Later that day, police were called to the same location "following reports of the same man being abusive to staff", and they asked him to leave. 

When he did not leave, he was arrested and taken to Mascot Police Station, the spokesperson said. 

He was charged with hindering and resisting a police officer in the execution of duty, behaving in an offensive manner in public, refusing to comply with direction, and breaching bail. The man was not charged with anything related to his attempt to withdraw funds.