Warning Signs When Shopping Online

There are a number of practices that no reputable vendor would use, including these:

Asking for credit card information before allowing you to enter a site.
Any attempt to rush you into a decision.
Unsolicited offers that arrive by email. There may be a few honest people doing this, but the vast majority of unsolicited offers are of little value, and many are outright fraudulent. In addition, unsolicited email can contain computer viruses. The best approach is to delete all unsolicited email offers. Do not reply to these messages, even to remove yourself from a mailing list.
Things that sound too good to be true usually are.
Sites that seem to take over your computer. Be especially wary of vendors who use "browser traps," which are designed to make it hard for you to get out of a site. A browser trap might, for example, disable the "back" button on your browser or eliminate all your recently visited site options. Other traps will open new windows every time you try to close one. Do not do business with anyone who uses these techniques and never make a purchase to get out of the trap.