How to Add Money Anonymously to a Friend's Account

by Teena
(Noblesville, IN)

My friend has a prepaid wireless phone and I would like to add some money to her account. I have her number but I don't know which company she uses. Is there anyway I can add money without her knowing it was me?

Comments for How to Add Money Anonymously to a Friend's Account

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Feb 27, 2017
 Using Your Funds NEW
by: PrepaidWirelessGuy

I'm sorry, but I don't understand the details of your account. What is it that's stopping you from using the money from your account balance? What carrier are you with? What plan are you on? Thank you for clarifying!
Feb 25, 2017
 I Have $19.55 In My Account
by: Anonymous

I have $19.55 in my account and want to use $10 of it. How can I use $10 for minutes?
Jul 26, 2010
 Anonymously Adding Money to Prepaid Account
by: PrepaidWirelessGuy

It shouldn't be too hard to casually bring it up in a conversation. Maybe something like: "There's been a lot of talk these days about wireless, like issues with the iPhone 4, AT&T networks issues, and the popularity of prepaid wireless. I was just wondering what wireless provider you're using."


I don't think she would be suspicious about you adding money to her account. Not a lot of people are kind enough to do that, so it certainly doesn't seem obvious to ask this type of question!
Jul 26, 2010
 response
by: Anonymous

Thanks for the info. She lives in another state so it is going to be a little tricky. I will let you know when I found out. Thanks for your help!
Jul 26, 2010
 Adding Money to Your Friend's Account
by: PrepaidWirelessGuy

Transaction processors are companies that work with retail stores or wireless dealers to basically send money that you give them to the prepaid wireless carrier customer account. There are a number of transaction processors that use a national database (I can't remember the name of the database at the moment).


When using these processors, you could add money to the phone number without needing to know the prepaid carrier. However, the problem is that you would need to know if the store you're using happens to be using a processor that supports this national database lookup. In other words, it's unlikely that you would know, and going store to store to try it out would be a complete pain in the butt!


So, in my opinion, the best approach would be to try to figure out what prepaid carrier your friend is using. Perhaps you can somehow bring it up in a conversation. If you have access to the phone, there's usually (but not always) some kind of carrier branding/logo on somewhere on the phone. If you can actually get a chance to use the phone, you can dial 611, which will take you directly to the provider's customer care department. You will/should hear the carrier welcome message when calling.


Once you find out what carrier they're using, the next step is the try to make a payment. Many prepaid carriers now offer unauthenticated payments/topups, and even sometimes refer to it as gifting. You can usually find it on their website under "make a payment" or "topup". If you can't find it, you can also try calling the carrier and asking them if you can do it online or even on the phone. Some carriers will even allow you to send in a check, and they will post the money if you include the phone number on the check. You can also include your friend's name, however, your friend may not have used their real name when setting up the account.


Some carriers will not allow you to add funds without authenticating with the account password, however, most carriers will allow a payment without the password, so long as you can provide the phone number. They simply won't be able to provide you with any account information.


Anyway, at the end of the day, you really do need to figure out what carrier your friend is using. From there you can figure out the best way to make a payment. If you find out what carrier they're using, you can let me know, and I can help provide some more specific information about how to make a payment!


The bottom line, though, is that you CAN make a payment anonymously, however, it will take some work the first time around to do the research.

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