By Sally Hind

Copyright dailyrecord

Police have launched a fraud probe after furious families reported losing thousands of pounds for holidays which they claim were never booked through an independent travel agent. Scores of irate customer have accused Natasha MacDonald, also known as Cogley, of taking cash for getaways which they later discovered did not exist. Families told the Record they had been left in tears over their botched trips after being left in the dark by the 46-year-old from Renfrew, near Glasgow , who set up Travel with Taylormadetravel earlier this year. One claimed their group was out of pocket by more than £8,000 for a trip to Turkey – which they had to rebook at their own expense while they battle for the cash back through their banks. Police Scotland said enquiries were ongoing into a number of reports relating to “a possible fraud involving the sale of holiday bookings”. One irate dad said his distraught daughter was locked in a battle to get the £2,000 she paid for a holiday to Turkey back. He said: “This has caught fire and we’ve just become aware of how many other people this involves. Every single day we’re hearing from more people affected by this. “She is receiving a lot of backlash. There are people going to her door. People are in tears. “My daughter is in dispute with her. She was supposed to be going to Mexico but found out nothing was booked or going ahead. “She was also supposed to be going to a family wedding in Turkey in October and has been let down with that. She’s not had any contact from Natasha now. She’s bumped basically. “My daughter went to the police on Saturday after going to the bank. “We’re trying to retrieve my daughter’s money back. We have successfully claimed one payment back but the other was done with a fast transfer payment and the bank are querying it. “We had two successful holidays with Natasha so she had gained our trust and we were offered fantastic deals. “People are now phoning the hotels that are supposed to be booked and the airlines and they’re finding no bookings. People are being left heartbroken. “It’s terrible the state my daughter has been in. She’s been distraught and off work. “I feel like we’ve been fobbed off and Natasha has now cut off all contact. “People are furious now.” Customers told us MacDonald was recommended to them by friends and relatives and deals were carried out over the phone. Another customer who contacted police over their case told the Record: “We are together in Turkey – a party of 10. We’ve all booked again so are out of pocket and are trying to claim the money back for our banks. “We’re down about £8,000 and we’re not as bad off as many others. “We booked in April and paid in full via a link to a Monzo account.” A third customer said they were also thousands of pounds down. He said: “Myself and in-laws had a holiday booked with Natasha. The same holiday but two separate bookings. “The holidays were paid in full but no holidays were booked after contacting the hotels directly.” The customer said he was told he would have a refund within 48 hours, but nothing arrived. He said: “I passed on several families to Natasha. All have been let down. “So many people have reached out to me who found themselves in similar situation.” Several more comments have been left by customers on social media groups regarding their dealings with MacDonald, with some claiming to have lost tens of thousands of pounds. Travel with Taylormade Travel was incorporated in January this year, with Natasha Cogley and MacDonald being named as director, along with a Taylor-Louise MacDonald. Their appointments have been terminated in recent months. A new director, Eddie Gallacher, was appointed in May and the company changed its name in July to Allaccess Travel Limited. When we approached the current director he said: “This is a police matter at this moment in time and I can’t obviously speak about it.” Natasha MacDonald was not answering the door yesterday or the phone number she used to carry out her business deals. She has not yet responded to our request for comment. A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “We are aware of a number of reports relating to a possible fraud involving the sale of holiday bookings. Enquiries are ongoing.”