Domain Due Diligence
Report for Deviantart.com
Why we think so
DeviantArt (deviantart.com) is a long-established, high-traffic art community (≈83M monthly visits) with robust infrastructure and mainstream payment options. ✅ The site uses Amazon/AWS hosting, valid SSL, and shows strong direct/search traffic. ⚠️ However, there are verified user phishing complaints, reports of unauthorized charges, and a prominent class-action lawsuit over its AI tools — so treat payment and outsider links cautiously.
Risk Insights
Large, real site but targeted by scammers
Legal risk for creators
Contradictory Signals
Automated blacklist scans can miss social-engineering scams that happen through messages or third-party links.
Signal A: No blacklist detections (Google Safe Browsing clean)
Signal B: Documented user phishing/unauthorized charge reports
Category Scores
Red Flags & Warnings
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Documented phishing and at least one user-reported unauthorized charge; platform has acknowledged phishing as an issue.
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Ongoing class-action lawsuit over AI/copyright (DreamUp) raises risk for creators and brand trust.
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Low Google Places rating (2.5/5) from local reviews suggests customer-service or trust problems for some users.
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Platform size attracts impersonators and scam accounts; user reports reference phishing and NFT/marketplace scams.
🔎 Detailed Checks & Analysis
Domain age & registrar
Domain age & registrar
"WHOIS shows registrar GoDaddy and stable DNS records; no recent suspicious transfers listed."
Reason: Long-lived domain with a mainstream registrar reduces impersonation risk.
Traffic & reach
Traffic & reach
"SimilarWeb and SimilarTech report ~83M monthly visits and global rank ~259; high direct traffic share (~60%)."
Reason: Very high monthly visits and low global rank indicate an established, widely used platform.
Technical hygiene (SSL, SPF, CDN)
Technical hygiene (SSL, SPF, CDN)
"TLS issued by Amazon RSA, multiple TXT records for Google verification and SPF present; site served via Amazon CloudFront and Route53."
Reason: Valid TLS certificate and proper SPF/DNS entries show reasonable email and transport security.
Blacklist & phishing checks
Blacklist & phishing checks
"Scans returned no matched threats; user reports indicate phishing campaigns that rely on social engineering rather than domain compromise."
Reason: No matches on Google Safe Browsing or crypto-scam blacklist, but phishing incidents are reported by users (not necessarily flagged by global blacklists).
Contact transparency
Contact transparency
"help@deviantart.com and media@deviantart.com appear in site pages and support docs; multiple official social accounts are linked."
Reason: Public support and media emails and social profiles allow verification of official channels.
User complaints & reviews
User complaints & reviews
"BBB complaints and community posts describe phishing, unauthorized charges, NFT and marketplace scams, and quality-of-support concerns."
Reason: Multiple complaints about scams, phishing, and poor customer support reduce trust despite overall site size.
Legal & IP risk
Legal & IP risk
"Lawsuit alleges use of artists' works without permission for DreamUp; some claims were dismissed but others remain active."
Reason: Active class-action lawsuit tied to AI/copyright increases legal uncertainty for creators and may affect platform policies.
Your Next Steps
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1Do not enter payment or banking details from in-site messages or unfamiliar links; use only official purchase flows on https://deviantart.com.
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2If you see requests to 'verify payment' or similar via messages or email, treat them as phishing and report them to DeviantArt support and to your bank immediately.
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3Verify any transaction receipts with your bank and check card statements for unauthorized charges; dispute with your card issuer if needed.
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4Report scams to DeviantArt (use listed support emails) and file a complaint with the BBB or local consumer protection if you lost money.
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5For creators: review the status of the AI/copyright litigation before sharing high-value, copyrighted works or enabling DreamUp-style features.
Evidence & Citations
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SimilarTech site profile for deviantart.com (traffic & tech stack)
SimilarTech shows high monthly visits (~83M) and uses Amazon/AWS, CloudFront, Route53 plus common payment providers (PayPal, Stripe).
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SimilarWeb analytics snapshot for deviantart.com (visits, engagement)
SimilarWeb reports ~83.7M monthly visits, pageviews per visit ≈15, and a global rank around #259 — evidence of large, active user base.
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WHOIS, DNS and SSL records for deviantart.com
WHOIS shows registrar GoDaddy, valid TLS (Amazon RSA) and DNS entries including SPF and Google verification tags; technical setup is modern and consistent.
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Site-scraped contact emails and social profiles (help@deviantart.com, media@deviantart.com)
Public support and media emails are listed on official pages; presence of official social accounts helps verification but does not prevent scams by third parties.
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User reports, complaints, and analysis (phishing/unwanted charges and legal disputes)
Aggregated reporting shows phishing incidents and at least one posted complaint about an unauthorized charge; DeviantArt staff acknowledged phishing attempts in responses.
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Google Safe Browsing & crypto blacklist checks
Scans returned no matched threats and crypto-scam blacklist shows domain not blacklisted.
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Google Places entry for deviantART, Inc. (local listing & reviews)
Places entry exists (1032 N Sycamore Ave, Los Angeles) with a 2.5/5 rating from 13 reviews, indicating some negative local feedback.
🕵🏻 Keep investigating
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