In the first nine months of 2007, the Employment Security Department caught 17,930 people who fraudulently collected $11.9 million and tried to collect another $6.5 million in unemployment benefits.

The most common types of fraud are claimants not reporting all of their sources of income and continuing to collect benefits after returning to work. When the department discovers someone has defrauded the system, that person must pay back the money, plus interest, and the claimant is suspended from collecting benefits for a period of time. Beginning in 2008, repeat offenders also will have to pay a monetary fine.

"Unemployment benefits are not a hand-out," said Employment Security Commissioner Karen Lee. "People who don't qualify for benefits shouldn't be collecting them, and we're doing everything we can to stop it."

Employment Security uses a variety of techniques to catch people who collect unemployment benefits to which they are not entitled, including cross-matching records with the Social Security Administration, the state Department of Labor & Industries, and the state and national lists of new hires. The department also monitors telephone numbers and mailing addresses to uncover multiple-claim schemes, and it investigates tips from the public.

"Unemployment fraud has a direct effect on the cost of doing business in Washington," said Lee. "When people scam the system, employers pay higher taxes to foot the bill."

There are several ways employers can help reduce unemployment fraud, according to Lee, including filing accurate tax-and-wage reports, responding to inquiries from Employment Security about former employees who have applied for benefits and quickly reporting their new employees to the state.