What about Shopping?

Know whom you're buying from. (Not literally, but at least do some checking if you’ve not had dealings with them in the past.)

• Make sure your purchases and information are secure.
• Check company policies and keep records of your purchases.
• Check with your credit card company to see if they offer One-Time use credit card numbers – if they do, use them. A one time number allows you to set a limit on the charge, set an expiration date of your choice and define the merchant allowed to bill against that number.
• Never give out a check number or write a check to unknown party. A checking account offers minimal protection against fraudulent withdrawals compared to a credit card.
• Learn to spot unscrupulous marketers and fraudsters before you shop. A quick Web search on the following criteria will turn up a wealth of information. Try typing these into your favorite search engine. Start with the first, notice the results and then add the word "AND" followed by the text in the next line:
1. “company-or-product-name”
2. (problem OR unhappy)
3. “poor service”
4. “does not work” OR “doesn’t work”

Note: Putting words together with quotations means – return only results where the words are found together precisely in the order typed. You should end up with something like this in your search field (assuming the company name is ABC Inc:

ABC AND (problem OR unhappy) AND “poor service” AND “does not work” OR “doesn’t work”