Online shopping is a great way to search for quality deals with all the comforts and convenience the internet has to offer. But not every online shopping site is worthy of consideration.

In the ongoing search for safe and reliable shopping sites, there are many factors to consider. Will they accept returns? Do you need to pay delivery charges for returns? How can you verify the quality of the merchandise? Is your personal information secure?

These are but a handful of the issues that need to be considered before you enter personal sensitive information like your mailing address, credit card information and user profile.

A great way to verify the security of the online shopping site is to contact customer support before you input personal information. That way, at least you get to ascertain the responsiveness, reliability, and professionalism of the e-commerce operation.

Any website that engages in questionable business practices will invariably have a slew of negative user feedback about it. There is a myriad of websites that showcase customer complaints, such as Hello Peter.

If an e-commerce site has generated negative feedback, it will be out there for everyone to find on the world wide web. Never disregard the power of an active customer base – reviews have substance.

How can you tell if an e-commerce site is legitimate?

Any online shopping site that is accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) is automatically a better option. The security of online shopping sites is paramount.

If you log in to a new online store and you see pop up ads, that’s your first indicator that something is amiss. Pop-up ads contain all manner of malware, spyware, adware and other dangerous software. Avoid them at all costs.

>See also: A history of online payment security

There is no room for malware on Chrome in the web of trust. If a website sends you unsolicited email, that’s another indicator of bad business practices. You should only receive emails that you signed up for – nothing else.

Be advised that scammers may hack many secure and legitimate operations. For example, you may receive an email that appears to come from your local bank, perhaps even your favorite payments processing option.

Secure online shopping

You should always check the email address carefully and verify that the URL is legitimate. Another important criterion is contact information. If the online shopping site presents a physical address, telephone number, email address, live customer support and key contact names, it is far more likely to be legitimate and trustworthy.

Never purchase with an online company that doesn’t accept credit card. Credit cards are protected against all fraud – debit cards are not. And always shop at online sites with URLs starting with HTTPS – that ‘S’ stands for secure and it’s guaranteed.

Final rule: if it sounds too good to be true, it is. Anything that seems like a steal probably is and you should have nothing further to do with it.

These tips will keep you safe on the world wide web, when browsing for secure online shopping sites on Google Chrome.