Unemployed And Overpaid

Get to work you worthless layabouts, and quit mooching off unemployment. Once upon an unemployed summer, Seattlest got very familiar with the hoops you gotta jump through to keep those checks coming. At one point we had to attend a class somewhere on Aurora, but week to week we just had to keep a little job searching log and if that log ever showed that we failed to apply for two positions a week (or make two employer contacts or whatever), woe be unto us - We'd be cut off. That being at the start of the internet age, we actually sent out about a dozen resumes a week (which took about ten minutes), but when it came time to fill out the journal it was always easier to just make something up. It's one of the many little frauds that we're sure will one day catch up with us.

If Seattlest was looking for work right now, it's almost certain we'd be included in the $12 million in unemployment fraud the state is claiming for 2006. Even state auditors know there are no content creator positions at Billy Bob's Blog Shanty.

From the Puget Sound Business Journal:

In the third quarter, officials at the state Employment Security Department said they discovered $3 million in fraud. So far this year, they said they've stopped about $6.7 million in payments to people who were trying to obtain unearned unemployment benefits.

They said the most common types of fraud include people not reporting earnings, people who collect unemployment benefits after returning to work, and people who don't look for work.