You haven't specified in what form the money was. Was it USD in the form of TRC20 token like USDT?
If yes then  you will need transaction fees in the form of Trx. They won't  levy the transaction fee from the USDT token.

I suggest you buy a small amount of Trx from an exchange then send it to the address having the funds. Your friend should have tried to teach you a few basics about how the TRON blockchain works.