If you want to avoid scams online, the best thing to do is do your own personal research before filling any form or joining anything online that requires you to put personal information. I have developed the habit of searching in the search engines for the site Im planning to use, you never know if sites are legit or copycats looking to steal your personal information.

HOW TO PROPERLY SHOP ONLINE

One of the best methods I use is buying stuff online through secure payment processors like Paypal or Alertpay, its safe with them because you can pay in websites that allow Paypal payments and with Paypal or any other processors you dont need to provide your credit card number, you can simply shop with your e-mail and they will never see your personal information because is protected under the processor, thats why I only shop in websites that accept Paypal, Alertpay or others that way I know my transaction is secured and my personal information is safe from scammers.

HOW TO RESEARCH A WEBSITE

If your not sure whether a site is legit or not always google it and see what information or reviews the results show, see what people are saying about the site and what experienced other people had with the site. You can also check the Whois.com which tells you all the information about the website from the date it was registered to the person that registered the site, the address and a lot more.

HOW TO AVOID CRAIGLIST SCAMS

Many people have being scammed in the popular classified site Craiglist.org, when looking for something make sure if its a job, renting or buying, or looking for something you speak to the person personally and never sent any money up-front or fill any information that any one request without knowing who they are, try to keep it locally so you can meet the person and talk, or if you can use secured ways of payments to make sure your money is safe, you never know who the person at the other end might be.

HOW TO REPORT SCAMS

if you been scammed online there are plenty of places to report it,like the ripoffreport.com and the ice3.org which is a goverment branch only for online scams and online security, there are plenty more but if you get scammed dont sit back your testimonial could help someone else from falling in the same scam.