COEUR D’ALENE—Idaho's Department of Labor warned unemployed workers last week about websites that offer to file unemployment claims for a fee, so KREM 2 News investigated two of those sites.
New figures from the federal government put Idaho's unemployment at 9%, the highest it's been since the 1980's. State labor officials believe one website is taking advantage of that and KREM 2 News found another one.
The website www.theunemploymentadvisor.com states it can help people across the country file for unemployment.
But according to the Better Business Bureau, they don't. Unemployment-advisor has an "F" rating in California, where the BBB calls the service “deceptive”.
Attempts to contact the company on Thursday and Friday failed.
Another website, www.unemploymentbenefitservices.com, was operating its online site Thursday after being offline earlier in the week. It offered the same service, filing claims for a fee. In this case they charged $9.95.
Last week, it had the attention of Idaho's Labor Department. It asked the business to stop mass-mail advertising in the state and it complied.
A representative for www.unemploymentbenefitservices.com said the company is trying to protect people who have lost their jobs and their right to benefits. The representative said the company is not trying to deceive anyone.
The site was offline again on Friday.
Both websites clearly stated they are not affiliated with governments and even though they claim to arm people with valuable information, the disclaimer makes no guarantee.
State labor officials said it’s best to get information straight from them at no cost.
