The phone number 800-483-8314 is associated with GTL Financial Services.
They are calling you because their robo-dialer has identified you as the owner of a phone number that an inmate in a prison has attempted to call. GTL Financial Services wants you to call them and leave a credit card number so you can accept calls from the inmate. If you do not know anyone in prison, you will continue to receive calls from this number until you make it stop.
Company Profile
Company name: GTL Financial Services (trade name for TouchPay Holdings, LLC)
Company type: Government contractor providing payment processing services to prisons and jails
Parent company: Global Tel*Link Corporation (operating as ViaPath Technologies)
Parent company owner: Private equity firm American Securities
Headquarters: Dallas, TX (GTL Financial Services), Falls Church, VA (ViaPath Technologies)
Industry: Prison telecom and financial services
Sector position: #2 prison phone company in the United States, with service in 2,300 facilities in all 50 states
Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating: A+ (not accredited)
You are not alone. RoboKiller has blocked more than 1.6 million calls from phone number 800-483-8314. Almost 7,000 consumers have filed reports about the number on RoboKiller alone. And in the last few years, the GTL corporate family has racked up more than $156 million in fines and class action payouts.
In November 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) fined GTL $3 million for “illegally” siphoning money out of roughly 575,000 consumer accounts without notice. A class action lawsuit found that from 2011-2019 alone, GTL took more than $121 million out of prepaid consumer accounts, leading to a $67 million settlement.
When a company has a history of regulatory fines and class actions related to unauthorized debits, the calls they’re making to you are worth investigating.
Why Is GTL Financial Services Calling Me?
Their Robocall System Explained
GTL Financial Services provides the payment processing technology behind prison phone services across the United States.
If an inmate in a participating facility attempts to dial a phone number that does not have a prepaid account, the system automatically places a follow-up robocall to that number. The automated voice instructs the call recipient to call 800-483-8314 and open an account with a credit card.
The system does not determine whether or not the called party knows the inmate. It simply dials the number that the inmate has entered into the system and begins calling.
Wrong Numbers and Random Calling
Random dialing, wrong numbers, and random phone harassment are very real problems related to this system.
Consumer complaints state that many people receiving the calls have no idea who the inmate is. “I get between 10 to 12 calls a day even though I already have an account for my family member,” one user wrote on 800notes. “I called the 800 number and told them I was getting calls and they told me I wasn’t getting any calls and even if I was there was nothing they could do about it.”
“This number calls and asks you to call them to accept calls from an inmate,” another consumer wrote on EveryCaller. “I called and told them it was a wrong number and they would still not stop calling me.” They were getting calls for an inmate at the Wichita County Jail and they were told they would have to make an account and give their name, address and email to be removed from the call list.
What Consumers Are Reporting About These Calls
Calls at All Hours With No Way to Opt Out
The pattern reported across multiple complaint platforms is remarkably consistent. Consumers describe calls starting as early as 4:56 AM and coming all day long. One consumer on Tellows reported that the automated message “calls in the dead of night” and leaves voicemails about inmates trying to make collect calls to their number. Attempts to stop the calls often prove fruitless.
A consumer on 800notes described calling GTL’s number to demand the calls stop, only to be told they needed to provide more personal information before anything could be done. That consumer had already filed a formal complaint and was still getting the calls.
Credit Card Demands Before Any Identification
Perhaps the most concerning aspect of these calls is what GTL is asking for before giving any information about who is calling. The automated system asks for credit card information before saying anything about the name of the inmate or the facility from which the call is originating.
One consumer on ShouldIAnswer reported that the system asks for all of your credit card information before they tell you who tried to call. They noted that if GTL wanted the process to seem on the up and up, they should at least tell you the jail, city and state, or the name of the inmate before they ask for your credit card information.
A consumer on 800notes went a step further, calling the process an “out and out scam” after discovering that following the system’s prompts results in a credit card request with no information about the supposed inmate ever being provided.
Your Rights Under Federal Consumer Protection Law
What You Are Legally Entitled to Request and Demand
Federal law offers several levels of protection that apply to your situation. Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, no entity can harass you with excessive calls, threaten legal action they cannot take or misrepresent who they are.
Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, automated calls and robocalls to your phone without your prior express consent may be violating federal law.
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you have the right to dispute any item on your credit report and the reporting agency must verify it with documented proof or remove it within 30 days.
These are not suggestions. They are legally enforceable rights you can invoke at any time and companies like GTL are obligated to honor them.
Why the Industry Depends on You Not Knowing This
The entire profitability model of the collection and payment processing industry is built around the idea that consumers will not know these strategies exist. Companies in this business are counting on most people to either pay up, ignore the problem or not know these options are available to them.
When consumers invoke their federal rights, that business model is completely destroyed. Collection agencies and payment processors don’t make public the names of their creditors, which change all the time. For that reason, it’s difficult for consumers to confirm what they owe, to whom, and whether they actually owe it.
Why Disputing Your Credit Report Is Your Best Defense
Documentation Lapses Are Your Friend
When a debt or chargeback goes through multiple systems, such as the case with the prison industry’s payment processing sector, documentation often goes missing or doesn’t make it through the process.
Since GTL Financial Services is a subsidiary of a subsidiary that processes payments in thousands of facilities with different protocols and levels of record-keeping, you can imagine there are plenty of opportunities for documentation lapses. And those lapses work to your advantage if you’re disputing a credit report entry.
If a credit bureau can’t verify an entry’s accuracy with the original documentation within 30 days of receiving your dispute, they must delete the entry. The burden of proof is on them, not you.
The Credit Reporting System Already Has It Out for You
According to studies, about 79% of credit reports contain at least one error.
That means the credit reporting system is flawed, not just the account in question. When you dispute an entry associated with GTL Financial Services or an account originating from their payment processing network, you aren’t exploiting a loophole. You’re holding the system to the standard it should already be meeting.
Disputing a credit report entry through the proper channel shifts the burden of proof onto the credit bureau. And given GTL’s well-documented practice of freezing hundreds of thousands of accounts without notification, it’s not a guarantee that the company’s internal documentation will meet dispute standards.
Reclaim Your Power Now
What You Can Do Right Now
Refuse to give your credit card number, Social Security number, or any other sensitive information to GTL’s IVR or customer service representative. Instead, request copies of your credit reports from each of the three bureaus and scour them for accounts from GTL Financial Services, TouchPay Holdings, ViaPath Technologies, or Global Tel*Link.
If you find any, make a copy of the entry. Then, dispute it with each credit bureau reporting it. Under the FCRA, the bureau has 30 days to verify the account with the original documentation or delete the entry from your report.
FightCollections.com Is on Your Side
At FightCollections.com, we have experience fighting back against collection agencies and payment processors whose business models depend on consumers’ confusion. Our professionals dispute credit report errors on behalf of our clients and have plenty of experience with clients like GTL Financial Services.
If you’re getting unwanted calls from 800-483-8314 and suspect your credit report has been impacted, contact us today to find out how we can help. You have more rights than they’re letting on, and the simple act of invoking them can change everything.
