I live in France and I have been sharing a student accomodation with somebody from Morocco for nearly 1 year. The guy is pretty nice, and I had no problem with him so far but two days ago, he asked me a strange request.
He would like to send 500€ to his dad in Morocco, but he told me that because he is a foreign student, he cannot create an account on Western Union (is it true?). So now, he is asking me to create an account on Western Union, and I am supposed to send the 500€ directly on his father account. He also told me that he can give me the money in cash or by bank transfert (I'd prefer cash I think).
I would rather trust and help him, but I would like to make sure I don't risk anything. So I have two questions:
1) why can't he create an account? I tried to look on the WU website, and I can't find anything concerning foreign students
2) if he gives me first the money in cash, do I risk anything if I send the money for him? Is there any precaution I can take to protect myself against any court action against me if it appears to be an illegal action, like money-laundering? For example, if I take a picture of it's ID, and/or a letter saying "I'm asking to XXX to do a bank transfert for me", can it be "safer" for me? (if it matters, I live in France)
-- EDIT --
To answer to RonJohn's comment (thanks for your answer):
- yes, he is supposed to study in the school that is 100m away, and I think it's true (I had the year before another flat mate in the same situation). He told me 4 days ago that he was planning to stay next year as well. Any idea if he is supposed to be able to create this account or not?
- if I ask for a bank transfer, can it still be a money laundering scheme?
- I'm not sure to follow that part. You mean he could be honest for the first transaction, and dishonest in next transactions that could eventually happen? What kind of scam is possible with "other electronic means"? Bank transfer is not safe?