Help with Western Union

[salmoneous]

I was wondering if anyone knows about or uses Western Union and could help me out. Long story short, just heard an old friend is in a heap of trouble. I'd like to send some cash, but don't want the friend to know it's from me. To be blunt, I don't want him coming back and asking for more.

I was thinking about using Western Union - can anyone walk me through the process. Do I just go down to an office (they are in the grocery stores around here) and give them some cash to send? Do I need to know what particular office the friend would be picking up the money at, or is it enough to know his town? And do I have to give my name on the form (um, more to the point, assuming they want a name, will they want ID to confirm the name). Then can I just leave an anonymous phone call to the friend saying, "this is an old friend from college, you have $XX waiting for you at your nearest Western Union. Go pick it up."

Specifically, I'm thinking about sending a few hundred bucks from one part of Massachusetts to another.

Finally, is there a better way to do this?

Thanks for any help,
Sal

 

[kmebee]

You will have to know what location the person will be picking up the money at so that it is sent to that location. You will also have to have his/her info. (name, phone maybe, can't remember on this for sure). They will have to have some kind of password to give when they go pick up the money and, I believe, know who it is coming from. Don't really think you can do this anonymously through Western Union.

 

[horseshowmom]

Is it possible to mail him a money order maybe? I don't have much experience with them, so I don't know if you have to put your name on it or not. It seems like there is a place for it, but maybe you don't have to fill that part out. You could ask the post office.

 

[jennyl772003]

As I recall, Western Union is expensive as well. I think you would probably be better off sending a money order through the mail or something like that.