Is academia.edu a scam?

We checked academia.edu against multiple threat databases, financial-regulator warning lists, and community reports. The full breakdown — including the verdict, flagged signals, and our recommendation — is available in the report on this page.

What is the risk score for academia.edu?

The risk score for academia.edu is calculated from 10 independent security signals — SSL validity, domain age, WHOIS data, threat-intel databases, and community reports. The score and per-signal breakdown are shown in the report above.

Does academia.edu have a valid SSL certificate?

Yes — academia.edu presents a valid SSL certificate issued by Amazon. The certificate's issuer, validity window, and chain details are in the report above.

Who owns academia.edu?

academia.edu is registered through unknown. WHOIS history, name servers, and full ownership signals are listed in the report above.

When was academia.edu registered?

academia.edu was registered on 1999-05-10. The full WHOIS record — including registrar, name servers, and registrant country — is in the report above.

Is academia.edu Safe or a Scam?

Live Analysis

Checked 2 days ago

academia.edu

Low Risk

academia.edu appears to be relatively safe based on our AI analysis. Multiple trust signals have been verified including SSL certificates, domain registration history, and content quality indicators.

Signals Detected

SSL Certificate

Valid

18.3

/ 100 Risk

Domain Age

27y

Analysis Depth

limited

Report Domain

Risk Breakdown

Valid SSL certificate detected. Issued by Amazon. Expires 10/27/2026.

An SSL certificate encrypts data between your browser and the website. A valid certificate means the connection is secure.

Domain has been registered for 27+ year(s).

Older domains are generally more trustworthy. Scam operations rarely maintain domains for extended periods.

Website is online and responding.

The website was reachable during our scan. An online status alone does not indicate safety.

Content quality — metadata score 83/100, 2/3 legal pages present.

This website has proper metadata and the essential legal pages (terms, privacy, contact).

Detected category: education (low risk).

This website was classified as 'education'. The category risk level reflects how frequently this type of website is associated with online fraud.

No community reports filed against this domain.

Our community has not submitted any fraud reports for this domain.

Analysis depth: limited — matched to this site's category.

All core checks (SSL, WHOIS, DNS, content, technology, threat intelligence) ran. Depth is calibrated to the site's category — lower-risk categories use a lighter fraud-analysis pass than crypto/trading/payment sites. This does NOT mean any step was skipped.

Safety Signals

Status

Online

Safe

SSL Security

Amazon

Safe

Domain Age

27 years

Safe

Registrar

Unknown

None

Country

USA

Info

Content

83/100

Safe

Threat Databases

Clear

Safe

FCA Warning Blacklist Threats Index URLhaus Phishing Patterns Ai Analysis

Regulators

12 checked

Safe

Reviews

1.2/5 (833)

Alert

AI Analysis

Academia.edu is a well-established online platform designed for academics and researchers to share, discover, and track research papers and their impact. It hosts millions of papers and facilitates connections between researchers across various disciplines.

The website content clearly describes its purpose as a research-sharing platform. It has been in operation for over 27 years, possesses valid SSL, and provides comprehensive Terms of Service and Privacy Policy documents. The 'About' page details the company's history, mission, leadership team, and investors, all of which are consistent with a legitimate, established entity. There are no indicators of fraudulent activity such as unrealistic promises, fee-to-withdraw schemes, or guaranteed returns.

• Standard online safety practices apply.

WHOIS Information

Registrar

Not available

Registration Date

May 10, 1999

Expiration Date

July 31, 2027

Country

USA

Domain Age

27 years and 1 month

Registrant (domain owner)

Name

Academia

Address

Academia 251 Kearny St suite 520 San Francisco, CA 94108 USA, san francisco, ca, 94108

Scam websites often use recently registered domains. A domain registered just days or weeks ago that claims to be an established business is a common red flag.

SSL Certificate

DV validated Wildcard

Issued by

Amazon

Validation level

Domain only

Certificate lifespan

197 days (issued Apr 13, 2026)

Covers

2 domains

Public key

RSA 2048-bit

Connection

TLSv1.3 (128-bit)

TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256

HTTPS encrypts the connection but only verifies the domain, not the business behind it. Always corroborate with the other signals on this page.

Company & Operator

Academia, Inc.

Academia.edu, founded by Richard Price, aims to accelerate research, advance science, and transform the world by providing a platform for academics to create profiles, share research content, and connect with peers globally.

Address

580 California St., Suite 400 San Francisco, CA, 94104

support@academia.edu

Team