Agent jailed for nine years for £1.2m holiday scam

Lyne Barlow, 39, formerly of Stanley, County Durham, admitted 10 charges of fraud relating to loans, investments, and holiday sales, including stealing £500,000 from one person, and one of money laundering.

Durham Crown Court heard how Barlow left more than 1,400 people out of pocket by taking their holiday bookings – only to ultimately fail to pay for them and keep the cash.

Barlow told her clients their bookings were protected by Atol and that she was a member of Abta. Her offending spanned 2019 and 2020, according to Durham Constabulary, which said the case was one of the largest of its type ever.

After initially targeting friends and family, she set up a fake online travel business using social media to advertise and ensnare additional victims, said police.

Cancer claim

The force said Barlow gained a reputation for being able to provide cheap holidays, with news of her offers spreading via social media where people left five-star reviews.

Unbeknown to her customers, though, Barlow sold publicly available holidays at heavily discounted rates, making the shortfall up from her own money, money borrowed from friends and family, and bank loans. She then used new bookings to fund existing holidays.

Police said in many cases, customers found their holidays were shorter than requested and in some instances did not include return flights, leaving them stranded. Others found out at airports their seats hadn’t been booked, or that that holidays had been cancelled having not been paid for.

Durham Constabulary said Barlow also encouraged family and friends to “invest” their savings and pension pay-outs in her business, promising them up to six-figure returns, which never materialised.

Some of the money she gain was used to fund her own lifestyle, said the force, which included foreign holidays, designer clothes and lavish parties. Barlow also falsely claimed to have terminal cancer, telling customers she was behind with bookings due to her treatment and duping family members into taking her for fake hospital appointments.