Some so-called no prescription pharmacies aren't actually pharmacies at all.

Scam pharmacies don’t all sell bad or counterfeit drugs.  That’s right — some of them don’t sell any drugs at all!

And scam pharmacies — many of them billing themselves as “no prescription” pharmacies — don’t always use your credit card numbers to charge you for drugs, either.  That’s because some of them don’t even have a merchant account that allows them to process credit cards!

You see, getting a merchant account isn’t easy, and takes a little time.  And fly-by-night operators like things to be easy.

So what these so-called pharmacies will do is put up a quick-and-dirty Web site using a free template and begin sending out spam e-mails to attempt to draw you to the site.  Once you’re there, they will pretend to sell you medications with no prescription — and they will take your credit card number and other personal information to pretend to charge your credit card.

And of course, they would charge you if they could — but they can’t, since they don’t have a merchant account.

So instead, they just hang on to your credit card information for future use.  Say, to buy a new high-definition TV — or a dozen of them.  Or for some other scam they’re concocting.

Of course, we hope you’ve already learned enough to avoid this kind of no prescription pharmacy site, but in the event you’ve given out your card number and you’re having second thoughts or concerns, here’s what you should do:

After you place an order, give your bank a call two or three days later to see if it was charged. If it has not been charged, you should immediately call the pharmacy to ask why.  

If you don’t get a good explanation, you probably need to cut up that credit card and get a new one.

Welcome to No Prescription Needed’s Online Pharmacy Blog.

We created this blog to educate visitors about the dangers of buying prescription drugs without a prescription from your doctor. So-called “no-prescription pharmacies” are just one of the many scams and hazards facing beleaguered healthcare consumers when they attempt to save money by buying prescription drugs online.

By reading this blog, you’ll learn to separate the scammers and rogue operators from the legitimate U.S. and Canadian online pharmacies that can save you up to 50 percent or more on your prescription drug purchases.

The members of No Prescription Needed already know their choices are safe ones. That’s because, as a benefit of joining No Prescription Needed, you will have access to more than two dozen low-cost pharmacies that are licensed in their home countries. Through our comparison-shopping search engine, you’ll be able to find the best deals available on the Web from legitimate sources.

No Prescription Needed is currently revamping our members area, which will go live Feb. 1. At that time, we hope you’ll consider joining our community of safe, smart prescription drug buyers. In the meantime, we hope you’ll check in on the No Prescription Needed Blog often to educate yourself about the dos and don’ts of buying drugs online.