Frequently Asked Questions

1.  Can inmates receive phone calls or make phone calls?  In many institutions they are allowed to make long distance phone calls.  They are collect and are more expensive than regular collect calls.  The reason for this is the prison makes a big profit on the calls.  They are also usually limited in length to around ten or fifteen minutes.  You should be cautious in giving out your phone number as it can become expensive.  

2.  What is the mailing address for Meet-An-Inmate.Com?  Inmate Letters">


 

Frequently Asked Questions

1.  Can inmates receive phone calls or make phone calls?  In many institutions they are allowed to make long distance phone calls.  They are collect and are more expensive than regular collect calls.  The reason for this is the prison makes a big profit on the calls.  They are also usually limited in length to around ten or fifteen minutes.  You should be cautious in giving out your phone number as it can become expensive.  

2.  What is the mailing address for Meet-An-Inmate.Com?  Inmate Letters, P.O. Box 1824, Pendleton, Oregon   97801

Email Webmaster (BJ): webmaster@inmateletters.com

3. What methods of payments do you accept?  We accept checks, money orders, and cash.

4. Can I e-mail a prisoner?  No. Prisoners cannot receive e-mail.  You can write them via postal service.

5. Do you forward emails to prisoners?  No, we do not supply this service. 

6. What if I'm not 18- Can I still write a prisoner or use your service?  No. You must be at least 18 years of age.  It is not wise for someone under 18 to write a prisoner nor is it wise for a prisoner to write someone under 18.

7. How often are ads updated? Usually within one to fifteen days of receiving a prisoner's ad.

8.  What is the D.O.C. number next to the prisoner's name? This is the Department of Corrections number. You must include this next to the prisoner's name when writing them or the letter will not be delivered.

9. Can prisoners receive gifts, stamps, etc.?  Usually not but the rules vary from prison to prison.  On your first letter do not send anything other than your letter and possibly a photo of yourself.  Ask the inmate you are corresponding with for rules of her/his specific institution.  Polaroid photos are not allowed.

10. Do you have any suggestions for writing prisoners? Be honest with them. You only have one chance to make a first impression. Most of these people are in need of friends and contact outside of prison. Mail is a very positive experience for them. Just be yourself.  Many of these inmates will not respond if you do not show them some respect or if you send sexually explicit letters.

HOW TO WRITE LETTERS

Write to all of the ones that appeal to you. That way you don't take the chance of missing out on any one of them.

Your first letter should always present a general description of yourself. This would include your age, your height, your weight, your hair color, eye color your complexion and any other details that you care to describe. It is recommended that you mention your occupation or the kind of work you do. The women are always interested in your family and your special interests or hobbies.  We do not recommend giving out your phone number, especially on the first letter as the only method they can call is collect.  The collect calls from prison are usually at a very high rate.

It is important that you personalize each letter that you compose for each lady. We do not want to discourage you from writing to as many ladies as you want to. We do, however, remind you that it is very easy to discover if a man is sending out numerous letters to the ladies using a duplicated letter and changing only the name of the lady. This is not a sincere effort and will not produce the desired results that you would hope for. It is also highly recommended that you prepare your letters on a computer or by using a typewriter. This makes it much easier for the ladies to read your letters. If you have a very neat and presentable penmanship then handwriting would be more personal. You will have to be the judge of which method you want to use. If the ladies were given a choice of how their letters were written they would all choose the more personal handwriting method.

It is very important that you include at least two photographs in your first letter. One photo should be a close up view of your upper body and face. Try to pose a friendly and pleasant smile. The second photo should show the full body pose. It is always a good idea to pose with a pet in your photo if you have one. It is also a good idea to include your children in your photo if you have children living at home with you.

11.  Do you have a disclaimer posted on InmateLetters.com.  Yes, we do as we are dealing with convicted felons.  The disclaimer states:

DISCLAIMER
InmateLetters.com and all of its associates have not investigated, and accept no responsibility for, the truth or accuracy of any statement made by advertisers, respondents and prison pen pals. We strongly recommend that you take appropriate safeguards when corresponding with the incarcerated women and men you meet through our site.

In advertising with us or responding to a prisoner's personal ad, you agree to hold InmateLetters.com  and its owners, employees and agents harmless from all costs, liabilities, damages and attorney fees, resulting from or caused by any reply to such advertisements, personal ads and legal ads of incarcerated men and women. You must be at least 18 years of age to enter this site.

Inmates, in choosing to place a personal or legal ad with InmateLetters.com  in search of correspondence or legal assistance, must understand that they and other providers of information are the publishers of the information contained in InmateLetters.com . We are not the publishers of such information, we simply provide the space for the inmate to place a personal or legal ad on the Internet.

In no event will InmateLetters.com  be responsible for any incidental, consequential, exemplary or other damage arising from or relating to the use of these services. Potential pen pals are encouraged to verify information about prison pen pals through additional sources, whether prisoners are incarcerated in United States prisons or prisons in foreign countries. Correctional facilities can be contacted directly. See our FAQ page for more information about this. Book marking to a page on this server/site whereby this warning page is by-passed shall constitute an implicit acceptance of the foregoing terms herein set forth.

12.  Can I request an inmate be removed from your site or make changes to her/his ad?  No. All changes made to an ad must come directly from the prisoner who placed the ad. They need to put their request in writing and mail it to our office. We do this to protect the privacy of their ad and make sure no one changes it when they do not so desire it.

13. Can I pay for a prisoner's ad?  Yes.  The ad will run  for  12 months at a cost of only $25.00.  Print out application application at:  http://inmateletters.com/application.htm

14.  How many prisoners can I write? There is no limit! Pick as many as you can be a good pen pal to. The only requirement is you have to be 18 or older.  I recommend that you write several to increase your chances of success in finding someone you enjoy writing.

15. Can I print applications and send them to the inmate?  Yes,  you can find the applications to print out at: http://inmateletters.com/application.htm

16.   Is it possible at all, to be informed of the crime in which the person we contacted has committed?  There are several states that give out this information free on their websites.  You can go to http://www.inmatesplus.com  to start your search.

17.  Do you recommend looking for a mate through your service.
No, I do not as the odds of everything working out are slim.  There just are too many obstacles.   I recommend the site for recreational use.  It can be a lot of fun writing an inmate on a friend/pen pal basis.  I recommend not to send money to inmates.  However, if you do, only send small amounts less than fifty dollars.  Usually they can make purchases in the prison store on items such as shampoo, shoes, books, magazines, writing paper, etc.  If an inmate asks for large amounts of money you should always suspect fraud and not be foolish.  These men and women are inmates and are usually in prison for good reason.  Read question number twenty-two for information on possible scams.

These days more and more people are looking to the internet to find romance.  I recommend the following sites in which I am an affiliate for.

18.  Do I have to be worried about scams when writing inmates?  Caution must always be used when dealing with inmates.

Here are some of the problems we have encountered:

·         FAKE PICTURES.  When we receive proof the photo is fake she is removed from the site.

·         OLD PICTURES.  It is common that they cannot send us a recent photo.  We do not remove them from the site for this reason if the photo is of them.

·         UNDERSTATING THEIR AGE.  We will remove them if He/she lies of her age.

·         SHORTENING HER RELEASE DATE.  This can be very complicated because they may be stating the expected release date after earning gain time or they may be stating an optimistic parole date.  If a lady says she gets out in two years and she is in for life we obviously will remove her, but it is not always that simple.

·         LYING TO GET MONEY.  They sometimes outright lie to get money sent to them.  The best advice is not to send money or only very small amounts for stamps, stationary, or small luxuries such as shampoo, deodorant, shoes, etc.  If you send money it is your choice and need to take responsibility for a bad decision if things do not go as you envisioned.  

Do you have any questions you think should be here? Please email webmaster!