Sofia Name left her family in Venezuela to pursue a degree in fashion design in the United States. The 22-year-old is on a tight budget.
"It's really hard to afford paying for schooling in the U.S.," Name says. "All our money is just to pay for school."
So when she was charged for hundreds of dollars in international calls she says she never made, Name didn't know what to do.
"I was just freaking out," Name says. "I don't have $2,000 to pay for these calls."
Name's problem began at an Irish pub in Ft. Lauderdale on August 6th.
"I was taking a picture or texting my friend and then I put my phone in my purse and then a couple minutes later I was going to use my phone and it wasn't in my purse anymore," Name says.
Her IPhone 6 Plus was gone. The next day, she says she called T-Mobile to suspend the line.
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"I thought they suspended the line and then I filed a claim through the insurance company," Name says.
Her claim was approved August 9th and her new phone was on its way. What Name says she didn't know was that on those days - August 6th through the 10th - someone was using her missing phone to place dozens of calls to Cuba. Name was part of a friend's calling plan and it was her friend - the account holder - who called her to ask about two unusually high bills, totaling more than $2,400.
"She said that those were international calls and I'm like, there's no way. Why would I call somebody in Cuba?" Name says. "I don't know anybody in Cuba."
When T-Mobile only reduced one of the bills, Name called NBC 6 responds.
"It's just really unfair," she told us.
After our team got involved, the account holder told us T-Mobile issued a credit for the $400 they had paid and removed the remaining $1,390 in charges. The company sent us a statement saying, "Our customers are important to us. We worked directly with [[the account holder]] to get this resolved to her satisfaction."
Name is relieved and thankful she can now focus on her studies.
If your phone is lost or stolen, make sure you reach out to your cell phone provider and tell them what happened.
You want to make sure they suspend the line immediately to prevent someone else from racking up thousands of dollars in calls.
