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Sponsors
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Precautionary Measures Taken By WriteAPrisoner.com |
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WriteAPrisoner.com takes a number of measures to
inform our viewers, safeguard the public, and
redirect traffic to appropriate agencies
whenever necessary. In addition,
WriteAPrisoner.com has a zero tolerance policy for anyone found misusing
our service. We encourage you to
take a moment to browse through the
precautionary measures we take and the resources
available to you on our site: |
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1)
A link is provided
on our homepage titled “Obtain Information on Inmates”. It lists every
state’s Department of Corrections link as well as the Federal Bureau of
Prisons website.
Reference:
http://writeaprisoner.com/departmentstate.aspx
2)
We provide the
following link on our home page titled “Postal Scams To Be Aware Of.” It
lists the most commonly known postal scams, and it provides a link directly
to the United States Report Postal Fraud form.
Reference:
http://www.writeaprisoner.com/postal-scams.aspx
3)
Inmates are expressly forbidden from mentioning anyone by name in their ads,
referencing victims, conducting business, or placing ads with adult content.
All ads are regulated and edited if necessary before being placed online. 4)
Our Frequently Asked
Questions page
contains the
following questions and answers listed below. The FAQ page is accessible
from every page on WriteAPrisoner.com.
References:
http://www.writeaprisoner.com/faq.aspx
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5)
How can I find out more about the
prisoner I am corresponding with?
You can write to the same address as the prisoner's. Just put "Prison
Administration" in place of the prisoner's name. Include a letter that
explains your inquiry. You can also check by visiting the
State Prison Links
and
Federal Prison Addresses and Contact Numbers
if you wish to write via e-mail.
(Listed under
General Questions about WriteAPrisoner.com)
8)
An inmate I am writing to has asked for money. Do you have any suggestions?
The institutions provide all basic
needs of living to inmates. In most cases, even educational programs are
free to inmates. Donating money is a decision that can only be made by you.
If the inmate is requesting a donation for something that seems unusual,
please contact us before sending money and we will address any concerns you
have.
(Listed under
Writing Inmates)
9)
Why do you post the inmates' crimes on their ad, and is this information
verified?
We post the crimes so that pen pals have full disclosure about the person
they are writing. This information is supplied directly by the inmate. In
some cases, the crime cannot be posted pending legal endeavors with the
inmate’s case. However, this is very rare, and information can always be
obtained by contacting the Department of Corrections directly.
(Listed under
General Questions about WriteAPrisoner.com)
10)
Why do you post so
much information about mail fraud? Is this a common occurrence?
No. In fact, fraud among our members has been almost non-existent. We
provide this as a precaution and to help appease any concerns the Department
of Corrections has about our service.
(Listed under Placing Inmate Ads on WriteAPrisoner.com)
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5)
Every single inmate
placing an ad on our website is required to list his or her crime with the
ad. In addition to this, we provide a link to the Department of Corrections
housing that particular inmate on the inmate’s personal webpage. Pen pals
can then observe any precautionary measures that the state recommends prior
to establishing correspondence with inmates. In fact, we encourage this, and
that is why we have gone to such great lengths to provide so
much
information to the public.
6)
We provide a form on
every inmate’s personal webpage to report misconduct as well as technical
problems. While it is rare that we have any reports of misuse of our
service, we do this to appease the concerns of
the
public and the Department of Corrections. Our staff thoroughly researches
all concerns and appropriate actions are taken when necessary.
7)
We include the
following message in our Welcome Packet, which is mailed to all inmates when
they first begin to use our service:
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Mail
Fraud
- Any member found deliberately misleading pen pals in order to extort money
will face legal repercussions. If you know of someone using our service to
perpetrate fraud in anyway, please contact us immediately. This is not the
standard with our members; however, few have sought to deceive the public by
placing false photos and requesting donations under false pretences. Anyone
caught doing this will have their ad removed, be blacklisted from
WriteAPrisoner.com, be reported to the administration at their institution,
and be subject to prosecution by federal authorities under Title 18, United
States Code, Section 1341 for mail fraud. We work hard to safeguard our
reputation and yours. Please inform us if you should ever become aware of
such misconduct by one of our members.
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Additional Precautions Regarding Minors: |
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When a pen pal emails an inmate on our website, certain information is
recorded, such as the Internet Provider Address and Internet Server. This
information can be used to contact and pinpoint a user’s Internet provider,
such as
AOL
or Yahoo. If a minor contacts an inmate, the minor is reported to their
hosting company, and we send a letter to the resident of the house notifying
the adult on record of what happened (Item 1). We also send the inmate a
letter (Item 2) acknowledging that we are aware of what has transpired and
to cease contact with the minor. In addition, the email address from which
the message originated is permanently blocked from sending any further
messages to our site. This is almost a non-existent occurrence. The inmates
are not seeking correspondence with minors. They realize this will only
bring more problems. An inmate’s mail is already much more regulated than a
normal citizen’s mail. The precautions we take are primarily geared at
appeasing concerns of the
DOC
and the public (primarily the
DOC.)
To learn more about the steps we take to keep kids safe online, as well as ways you can
help, please visit:
http://www.writeaprisoner.com/keep-kids-safe.aspx. |
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