Filing for state unemployment benefits online is free, so don't pay for it - that's the message Friday from the Employment Security Department.

In a news release, the department outlined a scam that works like this:

Unemployed workers must search for job openings as a requirement for receiving benefits. One of the places to search is through a state Web site, go2worksource.com.

If they mistype it as 2worksource.com, they land on a Web site that charges them $9.95 to file their unemployment claims. They then get an e-mail from “Unemployment Advisors” confirming that the fee has been charged to their credit cards.

The department said in the release that it is unable to determine if claims from this site have actually been filed unless a person calls the department to check.

Several Web sites crop up each year offering to help unemployed workers obtain unemployment benefits, often for a fee, the news release said. These sites may not be illegal, but they can be confusing, inaccurate and unnecessary.

“People who have been laid off can’t afford to be spending money on services they can get from us for free,” Employment Security Commissioner Karen Lee said in the release.

Unemployed workers should use www.esd.wa.gov to file their claims. If you paid a third party to file your claim, contact the state Attorney General’s Consumer Resource Center at 800-551-4636 between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. weekdays, or file a complaint online at www.atg.wa.gov.

UPDATE: Mark Varadian, a spokesman for the department, said Friday that the number of people taken advantage of is unclear. He said that they learned of the scam Thursday when one person paid the $9.95 fee and then discovered that no claims had been filed.

"We have no way of knowing unless someone who paid the $9.95 ends up calling our office," he said.

The department immediately notified the Attorney General's office.

"The challenge here is, did this other company in fact do anything illegal?" Varadian said. "If the service they're claiming to provide is to provide unemployment advice, then they can give people the same information we have on the (Web) site and charge them $9.95 for it.

"If they say they'll file the claim for them and don't, that's different," he said.

Robert Larson is president of Larson Automotive Group, which has eight dealerships in the Puget Sound region. I spoke with him this morning about President Bush's announcement of bridge loans to GM and Chrysler, and about Wednesday's news of Chrysler idling its plants.

What is your take on President Bush's announcement of loans this morning?

I think it's about time. It's sad that the vast majority of the American public are turning their nose to the Detroit Three as opposed to the bankers. Chrysler will be fine. They have a plan to be profitable in '09. It may be miniscule but it'll be a profit. ... This is just a bridge loan to help them get through the cash crunch.

How do you account for what you describe as the public's differing reactions to the bank bailout and the auto loans?

The Detroit Three probably should have had more fuel economy cars than they did, but they didn't create this (economic) mess we're in.

What's the biggest obstacle to selling cars?

People's confidence. In everything. People just have to go to work and just do. But it's dominoes. It's so simple and so hard. If everyone just forgot about what was going on and went on about their business... But it's not going to happen that way so we have to dig our way out.

What is your take on Chrysler's decision to charge dealers a fee for cars unsold after a certain period of time?

It's funny that you would put further economic burden on dealers at a time when they're trying to keep employees and stay afloat. I don't agree but it doesn't matter. We have to be very diligent. I literally sign all the checks and my comptroller and I keep it as tight as we can. We're just trying to get employees to understand the predicament that the United States is in.

So far we've kept (the effects of the economy on employees) to a real minimal amount. We went automated on the receptionist phone system. Really, other than that, we need some employees. We're short technicians, short sales people.

Are you hiring for those positions?

Yes, we are. So if you find some good ones that have a fair amount of training and the right attitude, send them our way.