Anonymous Money Transfer Methods: Safe & Secure Options

There are several options to send money safely and anonymously to a person, charity or business. Each option can facilitate a safe transfer and avoids the risk of mailing cash and negotiable instruments such as gift cards.

Delivery via a Fiduciary

You can have someone you trust, who is not known by the recipient, deliver cash or a gift card. This avoids the challenge posed by sending them anonymously through the mail, which includes the risk of loss and the requirement by the U.S. Postal Service to include your name and address for tracking and insurance purposes.

Warning

FedEx and UPS forbid shipping cash and gift cards.

Create a Trust

A revocable trust is a separate legal entity that can be used to make payments or donations without disclosing your identity. For example, a revocable trust could be titled as The Granite Mountain Trust. You could then set up a bank account in the name of the trust and make a deposit of the money to be sent. All money transfers and payments originating from this account would only display the name of the trust as the payer. You can set up a trust yourself by purchasing forms online or have an attorney do the work for you.

Tip

Revocable trusts are commonly used for estate planning. You can use your trust solely for the purpose of making anonymous payments and donations or expand its role to cover all of your assets.

Crowdfunding Sites

A number of websites such as JustGiving.com allow for anonymous fundraising for purposes including the payment of medical bills, natural disaster relief and paying college expenses. Through the use of mobile apps, Crowdfunding sites make it easy to donate, publicize fundraising projects through social media sites and keep track of the total number of donations. These sites generally allow for donors to either display their names or remain anonymous.

Warning

Transferring money using mobile devices opens the opportunity for hackers to gain information about bank accounts, credit cards and personal information. According to security expert Robert Siciliano, the best defense is to use a different password for each account or get a password management system to change and manage passwords.

Use an Attorney

Attorneys are commonly used to facilitate large anonymous donations, such as those made to college endowment funds. In these situations, the attorney acts as the intermediary between the person or entity making the payment and the charity or college that will receive the donation. The attorney can then provide documentation of the donation to the donor for tax purposes.