There are various ways you can receive money from people around the world. You can receive it via banks, credit unions, mobile wallets, and some financial technology companies. In most cases, you have to reveal your identity by providing details such as your full name, email address or phone number, and the account number to the sender. However, sometimes you may want to receive money without the sender knowing who you are. But what is the best way to receive money anonymously?
Anonymous means not known, and you may want to receive finances unknown may be due to security reasons. The most common reason is to avoid online fraud. There has been a lot of data misuse whereby firms that claim to have high-end security features end up being hacked and account holders losing thousands of dollars. Human beings create these systems, and even though they may guarantee you that they have put the best measures ever to counter fraud, they cannot guarantee 100% security.
Today I will help you to know how you can receive money anonymously. I will discuss various companies offering anonymous money transfer services to willing clients. The companies not just allow you to receive money anonymously but can also help you to transfer finances the same way. You will learn how you can use the company’s services so that you can see the most convenient one to use for receiving funds.
Various Types Of Anonymities
We all understand that when you want to send money to someone else in your bank or branch, you will need to send money with a checking account number instantly. You will need their names and account numbers to execute the mission. That means you will know who they are.
When you hear the term anonymity in sending and receiving money, you need to understand that there are two types of anonymity. They include:
i) Partial anonymity
Partial anonymity refers to payment methods and services that hide the identity of the sender and the receiver. When using the method, you do not know who you are dealing with but get money in your account. However, there are other details they will know from you, such as the email address or the physical address. Those are not enough to reveal full individual identity anyway. You can easily achieve partial anonymity, as you will see shortly.
ii) Full anonymity
Full anonymity refers to anonymity where no one knows who you are. They do not have any details about you, such as an email address or a physical address. A good example is a cash transaction whereby you can transact with full anonymity as the person receiving the cash may not know you personally. Take a case when you pass by a shop in a new town to purchase something.
You have to use cash to transact. The person you are buying from does not know you, nor do you know them. However, it is hard to achieve full anonymity, especially if you are remotely receiving or sending money anonymously. Some details will have to reach the concerned person in the long run.
Various Types Of Anonymous Money Transfers
I promised to disclose the various anonymous methods to use for receiving and even sending money. Even though they are not completely anonymous, they are still instrumental, especially if you receive finances remotely. Let us look at each one of them.
1) Gift Cards
Gift cards are cards you buy with a particular amount of money loaded onto them. The cards allow you to carry out transactions like debit and credit cards despite a few differences. You can buy goods online and at physical branches and get money out of them in gift card exchange kiosks or sell them at online sites that buy gift cards. Unfortunately, you cannot use a gift card to withdraw money at an ATM. Gift card are also known as prepaid debit cards, prepaid credit cards, or prepaid gift cards.
However, you need to understand that the cards are not credit cards despite getting the name prepaid credit cards. A credit card is different as it allows you to borrow finances from your card issuer. Remember that gift cards allow you to buy them for a certain amount of preloaded money. Again, some gift cards are reloadable to use again and again.
Gift cards do not link to any account as they draw money from their account. Once exhausted, the card is of no use unless you recharge again for the rechargeable ones. By the way, gift cards can help you send money from a bank account without verification. That is because you can use your bank account to purchase the cards.
How will the gift cards help me remain anonymous?
Let me show you how the cards offer anonymity. Let’s say you are a part of a particular group of people who have done a specific activity that needs appreciation from a particular company or organization. If you all opt for gift cards, the concerned company or organization needs to know the number of people in your group, then send the exact number of gift cards to be distributed among the group members. No card will have anyone’s name. That way, you will have received money anonymously. Even the sender of the cards may decide not to reveal who they are.
Another example is when you are receiving relief from the government. The area administration needs to get the exact number of the people in need and then tell the government, who then prepares gift cards, usually called vouchers, to give the needy people to purchase food, clothing, and anything else of importance.
I have mentioned that some gift cards allow you to recharge them. However, some allow you to use them at once, then do away with them. You can destroy them since they are of no use once you use all the available balance.
If you are receiving virtual cards, you can use a burner email address so that the sender does not get any of your real details. A burner email conceals the actual email address. It is usually a temporary one that you give the sender of the gift card so that they do not get a chance to know any of your details.
2) PayPal
PayPal is one of the largest money transfer companies in the world. By the way, the platform has created stiff competition for many financial companies globally. Even though some financial companies can offer instant wire transfers with routing and account numbers, that only happens domestically. PayPal offers instant wire transfers both domestically and internationally.
To receive money anonymously on PayPal, you can create a business account so that your email reads your business names. Remember that if you are sending money on PayPal, you need the email address, and you are done.
3) Virtual Credit Cards
We have virtual credit cards from various companies that you can use for your transactions. An excellent example of a virtual credit issuer is Privacy.com. These cards are essential because your card issuer will still know your identity since you must repay your debt anyway. The card links to your bank account or your tangible credit card.
The anonymous part comes in when you, as a merchant, get payments from someone using the virtual card. Since they are hiding their identity, you will not be able to know who they are. Similarly, they will not receive any details about your identity whatsoever. However, as a card user, your service provider will be able to see every transaction you make.
Furthermore, you can get burner credit cards that expire after every transaction. For example, you can decide to buy a commodity for $500 online. To ensure that you transact safely online, you get a burner credit card for the exact amount plus the transaction fees.
4) Cash App
Cash App is a mobile money service that allows you to send and receive money from users within the US and the UK. You do not need to know the money sender since if they get your $Cashtag username, that is enough to send you money. The $Cashtag does not reveal your identity.
And by the way, the platform is among the few that allow you to transfer money from one card to another. The Cash App allows you to use cards to fund your transactions. You can also move money from Cash App to a debit card instantly.
Bottom Line
There are various ways you can receive money across the world. Most of them require you to provide your identification, such as your full name, email address, and physical address. However, you can still get money anonymously to help you hide your identity and prevent losing your data online.
When you receive money anonymously, the sender does not know to whom they are sending money since they do not have any details about you.