If you’re a regular user of the Internet, you’re likely to know that it’s a world where you can buy and sell literally anything, often at a significant discount over brick and mortar stores. So it’s no surprise that pharmacies have gotten into the mix by selling a wide variety of pharmaceutical products online.

And although we’re becoming increasingly comfortable with purchasing items over the internet, with prescription drugs in particular, there is a heightened need for making sure that the particular vendor you choose is legitimate.

Whatever your reason for shopping for medicines over the Internet, its vital that you spend some time first considering the legitimacy of the online store before you send any money or place your order, because, for one, it’s your life you’re putting at risk by ingesting spurious drugs that are manufactured in countries where regulations are not all that stringent, and for another, it’s illegal in the USA and most countries where the laws are strict to import medicines that are banned locally, with or without a prescription. Also, if you buy only at legit outlets, you can seek legal recourse in case you run into problems with your transaction.

If you want to find out how safe an online pharmacy is, here are 8 considerations you might want to do first:

1. Find out if it is certified and approved by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) and/or PharmacyChecker for compliance with state or federal regulations. Approved sites have the VIPPS (Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites) stamp on them. Legitimate online pharmacies in the UK are certified by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) logo, a green and white cross, the words “Registered Pharmacy” and a seven-digit registration number.
2. Check for the displayed license/registration number.
3. Don’t buy from sites located in other countries.
4. Don’t trust pharmacies that sell drugs without prescriptions. Shops that do legal business take care to find out details and ensure that your prescription is necessary for you.
5. Be careful when buying drugs from overseas pharmacies even though they’re registered and completely above board – you may have to pay through your nose for shipping costs and you may be breaking US laws by bringing in drugs that are not approved in the USA.
6. Look for a phone number that you can call to verify details.
7. Shop with pharmacies that offer a secure site to process your credit card.
8. If you’re still not sure of the legitimacy of a particular pharmacy even though everything seems to be ok, check with the FDA site where there’s a list published of stores that sell and deal in illegal drugs.