After eating the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and grandma’s homemade pumpkin pie, many of us either passed out from a food-induced coma that we repeatedly promised ourselves we would never get to that point or we went to go stand in line for Black Friday deals. It is an annual tradition for Americans to look forward to (or dread) the deals of Black Friday. But  those who wanted to avoid the massive crowds and chaotic lines were still able to find great deals online on Cyber Monday.

Cyber Monday revealed some great deals for web surfers, but it revealed even greater deals for the Justice Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Federal law enforcement shut down several upon several websites selling counterfeit items and peddling counterfeit merchandise. This operation has been ongoing since June 2010, but because of the great sales that occur on Cyber Monday, the feds took this opportunity to crack down on online sites in an effort to fight the sale of counterfeit goods. They seized over 150 domain websites and then posted a public service announcement on those websites to warn the public about the economic impact of counterfeit products and copyright infringement. While the feds are working hard to shut down these websites who are tricking consumers into purchasing knockoffs, we can do our part by doing our research and ensuring that we are buying authentic products.

So how can you tell if a domain name is selling legitimate products? Here are some red flags you should look for:

• - If the price seems too good to be true. Do your research and see what other online websites are selling the product for.
• - If there is no “contact us” link or any way to directly reach the company.
• - Spelling and grammar errors on the website.
• - Check the domain name before you enter any credit card information.