Irish students fall victim to US landlord scam

IRISH students are falling victim to a scam sweeping America which is netting unscrupulous landlords thousands of dollars.

The scam sees landlords evicting students for no apparent reason days before their lease is due to expire and then withholding their deposits. Students would normally pay deposits of up to $1,000 (€680) for summer accommodation.

Thousands of Irish students travel to the US every summer on J1 visas and according to travel operator ‘Sayit’ it has become aware of students who are having difficulty in getting their security deposits back.