WESTERN UNION LOST MONEY AND WONT DO ANYTHING

Hello, I am a student from Cyprus currently living and studying in Italy. I am 20 years old and I am really in a difficult situation and don't know what to do.

Five days ago I have found an apartment that I would like to rent in Milan, I have sent the house lord an e-mail and he then told me that he was abroad and the only way he would fly to Italy so he could show me and rent me the apartment was if I showed him a proof that i had the money. He suggested Western Union. He simply told me to send the money to a friend of mine and then send him the receipt. And so I did, but after talking to a Western Union operator I have found out that the only way someone could take the money was if he was the receiver (with a valid ID of course) and that nobody could find out the name of the receiver, not even knowing the transfer code, so before e-mailing him the receipt I erased the name of the receiver, that way the guy would know that I had the money and I would be legally safe. They didn't even tell me that there is a secure way to do a transfer.

Yesterday, my friend went to pick up the money and the operator told her that the money was already cashed out. Since then I've been calling all the central offices of Western Union in Italy and everyone tells me to go to the police, I even called the main offices in America and after telling the same story to five different people they told me to go to the police. I then told them that the police wouldn't do anything about this and I surely won't get my money back and that this was their fault and if needed I would go in court, then they put me on hold and after 5 minutes on hold they hung up on me, probably putting me on their black list because after that incident I have tried to call about 10 times and the messenger tells me that the operator is unavailable. This is surely a problem that would just concern Western Union, because only a Western Union operator can get a name by entering only the transfer code. That�s the thing I told them before they hung up on me.

And now here I am, a 20-year-old exchange student missing the rent of three months (1,200 euro = approx. 1,750 dollars), which I worked for since June. I know that I am located in Italy but if you could please help me that would mean a lot to me, it's after all an American company.

Please have in mind that I have all the receipts and e-mails on my computer and copies.

Thank you in advance and for your time.