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The Fake Holiday Scammer: Travel Agent Who Scammed Over £2.6Mill | Social Media Monsters | C4 Docs

Channel 4 Documentaries

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Contains discussions of serious crime that some viewers may find distressing.

Social Media Monsters examines serious crimes where social media played a significant role, meeting victims, friends and families, and gaining insight from police, psychologists and other experts. Lyne Barlow's Facebook page advertises incredible holiday deals that are too good to be true - until Durham police unearth one of the largest fraud cases they've ever seen. (S1 EP7)

First shown: 6 Jan 2025

00:00 Intro
01:43 Lyne Barlow, 39
06:19 The holiday scams
17:50 Reviews and exposing her
22:57 Stealing from her own mother
31:14 Fake cancer diagnosis
40:12 House fire-bombed

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20 Comments

@singlespawn 8 months ago (edited)

I can't think of anything worse than everyone in my area being booked on the same holiday as me

@ImTrimax 8 months ago (edited)

You've got to be a special type of person to book a holiday with someone through Facebook 🤦‍♂

@ReesZzz 8 months ago

“Nothing beats a Lyne Barlow holiday” 🎵✈️ 🤝

@rhinollama 8 months ago

"So Lyne's first victim was her mother" My jaw dropped

@Rebecca_Bailey 8 months ago

£500 for a holiday to Dubai for 2 weeks? Yeah no I don’t think so

@Thaai50 8 months ago

Snacks from Marks and Spencers just cracked me up. 🤣🤣🤣

@leebedford7750 8 months ago (edited)

The genuine jet 2 holiday advert on the break of this was pretty brutal 🤣🤣🤣

@TheWizardOfTheFens 8 months ago

Amazing….the female officer at the end who said Barlow was using other people and their money for her own gain and to support a lavish lifestyle could have actually been describing any U.K. politician.

@DanCox-h1z 8 months ago

The scariest person is one without a conscience.

@Stavroe 8 months ago

As the old adage goes " you buy cheap, you buy twice"

@petermullen6852 8 months ago

I’m absolutely gumfounded that she could do that to her own mother

@CaptainWowThe2nd 8 months ago

never trust anyone with a gum to teeth ratio like that

@PartyAtTheTop 8 months ago

Imagine thinking you'd be on a barge, then dumped in Leeds. Sounds like hell.

@sadikmeah4057 8 months ago

If it wasn't stopped it would have just carried on...

Wow what an analysis!!

@5tevenH 8 months ago

5:08
A travel agent that cannot spell Tenerife, ain't getting my money 😅

@maxbrundle1599 8 months ago

Her poor mum😢 to be betrayed by your daughter like that must be awful. When its your kid you cant just stop loving them the way you can cut out a friend. Heart goes out to all the victims of this horrible woman

@chekhov1860 8 months ago

I must say, the continuous, incessant background music really adds to my enjoyment of this documentary. It’s just a shame it wasn’t louder because there were some really banging tunes in there.

@KJ-lb4tj 8 months ago

What one year old wants to be stuck on a barge?

@garethpothin1498 8 months ago (edited)

Since an online travel agency kept my money after my flight was cancelled due to Covid, I'll never ever again use a travel agency. I book directly with the airline, it's safer

@davebaz8142 8 months ago

Everyone saying how stupid people are to book holidays on FB, which is true. But also, how monumentally stupid is the woman thinking she could get away with this blatant scam using her real name and dealing with ‘customers’ she knew and who knew where she lived.