WriteAPrisoner.com - Prison Pen Pals
Sponsors


  •  Inmate Profiles

    •   Newest
      •   Newest Text Only Version
    •   Alphabetical
      •   Alphabetical Text Only Version
    •   Celebrating Birthdays
      •   Celebrating Birthdays Text Only Version
    •   Legal
      •   Legal Text Only Version
    •   Location
      •   Location Text Only Version
    •   Not Receiving Mail
      •   Not Receiving Mail Text Only Version
    •   Search
      •   Advanced Search
  •  List an Inmate

    •   Submit New Inmate Profile (MOST POPULAR)
    •   Payment Only
    •   Make Changes to an Inmate Profile
    •   Renew Existing Inmate Profile
    •   Purchase Credit for an Existing Member
    •   Purchase an Inmate Profile as a Gift
    •   Brochure Request
  •  Forum

    •   Arcade
    •   Login
    •   Register
  •  FAQs

    •   General FAQs
    •   Books Behind Bars FAQs
    •   Back to Work FAQs
  •  Social Programs

    •   Back to Work
    •   Books Behind Bars
    •   Donate to a Cause
    •   Scholarship
  •  Home

 We are working with media outlets who are interested in hearing from couples from WriteAPrisoner.com. If you met your loved one on our website and you would be interested in appearing on a show or in a story, please contact us today.
You Are On:  Precautionary Measures

Precautionary Measures Taken by WriteAPrisoner.com

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:

  1. A link is provided on our homepage titled “Locate Prisoners”. It provides a complete list of each state’s official Department of Corrections website as well as a direct link to the state's online inmate locator, if applicable.  We also provide a link to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website with a direct link to the Federal Online Inmate locator.  In addition, we provide a list of tips to help viewers locate inmates through these sites.  
    Reference: http://www.writeaprisoner.com/prisoner-locator/default.aspx

  2. We provide the following link on our homepage 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 profiles, referencing victims, conducting business, or placing profiles with adult content. All profiles are regulated and edited if necessary before being placed online.

  4. We provide a "Fraud Affidavit" to report fraudulent content, and we take immediate steps to enforce our policy of banning any inmate who attempts to defraud the public from participating in our services.
    Reference:  http://www.writeaprisoner.com/fraud-affidavit.aspx

  5. Any inmate found misusing our service or violating our Terms of Service is blacklisted from our site and entered into a database that prevents him/her from ever placing another profile on our site. 

  6. 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)

  7. 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.

  8. 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.

  9. 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.

  10. 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

  11. 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

 



Bookmark  Print  Report  Email to a Friend  AddThis Social Bookmark Button
Sitemap  Newsletter  Make Us Your Homepage


Chamber of Commerce
Sponsors
BBB
Sponsors

2000-2009 WriteAPrisoner.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Must be 18 to be viewing this website and have read our Terms of Service.