Shopping Online: What to Be Skeptical Of

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• Notices of great deals that come from unsolicited email. These companies are often temporary and won’t stand behind what they sell. In addition, replying to the email will most likely add you to many other email lists for junk mail.
• Advertisements from pop-up ads or banner ads. Online ads can be purchased by anyone and is no indication that the company is real nor reputable. Do some searching on the company and see what you can find out about them.
• Businesses without a real address. A P.O. box doesn’t count. Do they have an email address to contact a real person or customer service department? Call or send them an email first or and see if they can answer your questions.
• Shipping charges, return policies, and refund policies that aren't stated somewhere on their page or that aren't very generous. A good company that’s selling a quality product won’t have a problem taking it back if you change your mind.
• Reviews from other consumers. Search the company’s name in a search engine with the words “customer review” to see what others say about them.

What Do Cookies Have to Do with Online Shopping?

Online merchants as well as other sites watch our shopping and surfing habits by using "cookies," an online tracking system that attaches pieces of code to our Internet browsers to track which sites we visit on the Web. Online merchants use cookies to recognize you and speed up the shopping process the next time you visit, but they're also used for very targeted advertising.

For example, you might buy a book on golf from Amazon, visit the Professional Golfer's Association site, purchase golf shoes at Zappos, and search online for golf courses near your home. When you do, your computer's Internet Protocol (IP) number could be used to generate golf-related ads. When you open the USA Today site to read the morning news, you may see an ad offering you a new set of clubs at a discount. When you go back to Amazon later that day you might be offered a biography of Tiger Woods.

You may be able to set your browser to disable or refuse cookies but the tradeoff may limit the functions you can perform online, and possibly prevent you from ordering online.

Legitimate Online Sale or A Scam to Get My Money?  Know these 5 signs of online fraud.

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"Online Shopping Tips: E-Commerce and You." Privacy Rights Clearinghouse: Empowering Consumers, Protecting Privacy. Privacy Rights Clearninghouse, Mar. 2010. Web. 17 June 2010. .

"Signs of Online Fraud." GetNetWise. Internet Education Foundation, 2008. Web. 01 Nov. 2010. .