When you purchase medical equipment or supplies online, be sure the store from which you are purchasing is reputable. Some stores will charge your insurance company for items they do not deliver or make up orders that in all actuality, you do not really need.

You can avoid this problem by only going through stores that are established and have good standing in the medical and insurance communities.

There are hundreds — perhaps thousands of sites that offer pharmaceuticals online and many of them do not require a doctor’s prescription. When you buy from these sites, you are not only breaking laws, but could be playing roulette with your life.

These types of scams often involve counterfeit drugs that are diluted or even tainted with other chemicals.

These sites will have you fill out a form detailing your symptoms. Some of them (but not all), will charge a fee for a doctor’s consultation. Most of the doctors they hire for these consultations (if there are any true doctors) are doctors who have a bad history.

Online pharmacy scams are often pushed through email. They are essentially peddling illegal drugs, sugar pills or even poison.

Even when the drugs are the real thing, they are often dispensed without proper consideration of the diagnosis. The worst of these companies will take your personal information for the purpose of identity theft.

How to Protect Yourself
Do not buy from pharmaceutical drugs from online sites that do not require a prescription.