Lyne Barlow: The holidaymakers stung in a £2.6m luxury break con

Paul Stocks (left) said the first three days of his golfing holiday in Turkey were fantastic

Paul Stocks could not believe his luck when he got a two-week, five-star all inclusive golfing holiday for six people for £7,000 in September 2020. But within three days, the sunshine break turned into a nightmare with the group left stranded and out of pocket after being duped by fraudster travel agent Lyne Barlow.

"She seemed like a really good person, really professional," said property developer Mr Stocks, recalling his first contact with her.

"She'd text you all the time asking if there were any problems, so there was no reason to doubt her at all."

Mr Stocks, from Chester-le Street, his wife Elizabeth and two other couples wanted luxury and everything included for their break.

They put their last-minute couples' holiday in Barlow's hands, with assurances from her that her trips were Atol (Air Travel Organisers' Licensing scheme) protected and she was a member of the Association of British Travel Agents.

"We were given confidence we could trust this person," he told the BBC's Rip Off Britain.

"There were so many people in our area who had booked holidays with her and had successful holidays."

Lyne Barlow (pictured left leaving court and also right in a publicity shot for her business)

She had set up Lyne Barlow Independent Travel in 2019 and quickly earned a reputation for offering great deals and got more customers through recommendations from satisfied holidaymakers.

Durham Police said that by 2020, hundreds of people across the county were not booking through major holiday firms but choosing to take their sunshine breaks with Barlow, who was described as being "at the heart of the community".

The force said people trusted her because of her frequent, informal texts promising great deals, often ending with kisses.

Mr Stocks was no exception, having heard only good things about Barlow, who lived in Stanley, County Durham.

"It was a five-star hotel in Turkey, all inclusive, the views looked fantastic," he said.

"We had confidence, I checked other holidays and no-one could touch the price."

Mr Stocks said he was blown away by the amazing hotel with its huge pool and five restaurants

The party was charged £7,000 for 14 nights of promised luxury. In September 2020, the excited friends arrived at their hotel.

Mr Stocks said: "It was biggest swimming pool I'd seen in my life. It had five different restaurants and the suites were huge. Friends couldn't believe the size of the place because of the price we'd paid.

"The first day we got there it was brilliant. We were having the best holiday ever."

• Fake travel agent jailed for £1.6m holidays scam

However, by day three things began to go wrong when Mr Stocks was summoned to reception and told that his party had only been booked in for three out of the expected 14 nights.

He was told that they could stay but only if they stumped up a further £2,800.

By day three the party's holiday turned into a disaster

"We didn't have that kind of money," he said.

"We were devastated, we were miles from home and literally didn't know what to do."

It emerged that Barlow had only paid the hotel a fraction of what the party had given her.

Mr Stocks tried to contact her numerous times, but heard nothing.

"Lyne Barlow wasn't texting back, we felt powerless, we were stranded," he said.

They group found a restaurant to sit in and got chatting to some ex-pats who helped secure them some accommodation.

The keen golfer wanted an all inclusive fortnight "luxury" break to unwind

But things went from bad to worse when they discovered their return flights had also not been paid for.

"She'd told us she'd email us our boarding passes but that never happened and our stress levels were through the roof," he said.

While the group was stranded their story got back to County Durham where other disgruntled holidaymakers had set up a Facebook page to tell their stories of travel disasters.

The word was Barlow's company was on the verge of collapse and she had faked her protection credentials.

Durham Police said people trusted Barlow because of her frequent, informal texts

Gary Ryecroft, a Lancashire-based lawyer who has been following her lies, said: "The case of Lyne Barlow is like no other.

"Here we've got a bogus travel agent, operating in plain sight in the real world.

"She was booking holidays that didn't exist. She was taking money and buying some holidays, but not all of them."

'Shattered confidence'

He said that customers needed to be wary of smaller independent travel agents.

And they should always check their travel protection credentials and follow the other "golden rule" of buying with a credit card.

"If you use a credit card and the service isn't provided, the company is responsible for refunding you," he said.

"Similar protection is available if you pay by debit card if your bank operates a charge back scheme."

Lyne Barlow has been jailed over the fraud

In the end, Mr Stocks said he and his friends had to shell out more than £740 to pay for the flights home. Fortunately he had paid with a credit card and got all his money back.

"I feel like I've let myself down, my wife down and this one experience has shattered our confidence," he said.

On Friday, Barlow was jailed for nine years after admitting stealing £500,000 from one person, 10 counts of fraud and a money laundering charge involving £1.6m.

James Lewis from the Crown Prosecution Service said: "Barlow acted with greed, using false promises and deceptive lies to convince family and friends as well as hundreds of customers who all trusted her to part with their money to fund her lavish lifestyle.

"Fraud is insidious and the cost to the many victims in this case has not just been financial.

"It has also caused huge emotional distress and extreme disappointment to devastated customers who had to find out that their holiday did not actually exist at a time when the country was in the grip of the Covid pandemic.

"Thanks to the thorough investigation by Durham Police and the victims who came forward to report her, we were able to bring Barlow to justice."

He added that steps would now be taken to recover some of the money through the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Durham Police said Barlow also defrauded family and friends of their savings to set up her travel agency.

She also lied to people that she had cancer to con more money out of relatives.

Many of the people who had handed over their money later discovered that Barlow had never paid for the holidays they booked with her.

"Several hundred" people came forward to make complaints against her and Det Sgt Alan Meehan said it had been one of the biggest fraud cases the force had dealt with.

"So many people have been affected by her actions, lives have been changed forever and some are still feeling the effects today," he said.