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
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 profile, 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)
9)
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 Profiles on WriteAPrisoner.com)
11)
Can any inmate join WriteAPrisoner.com?
We currently do not accept profiles from anyone under the age of 18. In most
cases, we reject profiles from people convicted of sexual crimes against
children, and select inmates of notoriety. WriteAPrisoner.com reserves the
right to reject any profile. A full refund will be issued in this case.
(Listed under Placing Inmate Profiles on WriteAPrisoner.com)
17)
I believe that an inmate on your site is attempting to defraud the public by
placing false information on his/her profile. What should I do?
WriteAPrisoner.com, Inc. maintains strict policies regarding inmates
attempting to defraud the public. We ask that you waste no time in filing an
official Fraud Affidavit so we can investigate your claim.
(Listed under General Questions about WriteAPrisoner.com)
Every single inmate placing a profile on our
website is required to list his or her crime with the profile. 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.
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.
We include the following message in our Welcome Packet, which is mailed
to all inmates when they first begin to use our service:
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
profile 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.
We provide Public Forum Information for every state that allows users to
ask questions and share region specific resources and/or information.
Reference:
http://www.writeaprisoner.com/vbforum/#regional
We provide a screen tip next to the "Seeking Donations" option on every
inmate's profile that outlines how money can be used in prison and warns
viewers never to send large sums of money to an inmate. We also
instruct viewers to contact us prior to sending an inmate funds if the
request seems unusual, unethical, or illegal.
Additional Precautions Regarding Minors
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.
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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