Some people have been burned bad in the internet. No, it's not the literal burning but rather being burned from online auction and shopping scams. The internet is a perfect place for scams since total anonymity can be achieved, and stories and products can easily be fabricated along with supporting documents, data, and supporting materials. 

If you think scammers have employed every method imaginable, think again. When scams have been discovered and the modus operandi have been disclosed, as long as these people are not caught they will continue to come up with ways to fool people of their cash. You need to be vigilant, and do your research before buying online. 

Beware of products that are being sold at ridiculously low prices. This can be a scam. People will actually sell very cheap products on the internet just to get credit card information and bank account details.

Aside from the very low price, a warning sign that an auction is fake or a scam is the very poor ratings of the seller as well as the initial bidders in an auction site. Aside from being a good sign that these people did something bad in their previous transactions, it is also just plain good business sense. Whoever wants to partake in a business deal with someone who has earned some pretty bad reputation in the industry?

Heed warning bells when the other party prefers completing transactions outside the auction site. Most auction sites provide some level of protection for buyers and sellers in their site. Negotiating outside the auction site will no longer make the site owner liable and they will not guarantee that your transaction will go smoothly. They are not obligated to help you when the deal goes sour.

If the other party is too pushy on payments and requests immediate fund transfers or wire service, you might have bought a "hot" product that the other party needs to dispose off immediately before authorities get to him or the deal was totally a made up one and he wants to get the money before he get discovered.

Online auction and shopping website usually provide information on who they are and what they actually do. Their website contains a lot of information on privacy, terms of usage, conditions of use, legal matters, the whole shabang. If you encounter a website that sells and buys stuff but does not contain the usual, necessary and important information, it is better to stay away from such sites.

Also, the "Free" word has been used repeatedly and consistently by online auction and shopping, especially shopping, websites. But most often than not, these "free" items are not really given for free. What you usually get is free spam emails.

Beware of products that claim to be a miracle cure for something. There are a lot of these in the internet. They usually hype the products adding words like "miracle drug" or "wonder machine" to make them more salable. Sadly, there are still a lot of people who get drawn by such marketing strategies.

Everything mentioned above can be avoided if you have done research. There are a number of ways to determine if the products are fake. Check the news, regulatory bodies, official company websites and the like. Send email and queries to the website administrator to verify the authenticity of the person selling and/or buying an item in their website. It means added work for you but it's better than being scammed.