Is fda.gov legit?
You should use caution before relying on fda.gov. While it's a domain with strong identity and infrastructure, critical issues like a 403 error preventing access and missing legal pages are major red flags for an official government website.
Government average: 80/100 · based on 33 sites
Checked: April 18, 2026 at 8:06 AM UTC · Refresh
Is fda.gov a scam? Here's what we found.
The security setup is robust, featuring a valid SSL certificate with modern TLS 1.3 encryption and no detected threats from Google Web Risk. It also enforces HTTPS via HSTS, which is excellent.
This domain boasts a highly established identity, being over 25 years old and registered through the official get.gov registrar, confirming its long-standing government affiliation.
Its Tranco Rank as one of the most visited global websites speaks volumes about its recognized authority and significant online presence. The clean DNS blacklist status further reinforces its untarnished standing.
Transparency is a significant concern as basic contact information and social media links are missing from the homepage, making it difficult for users to engage or seek support from this official entity.
The complete absence of a privacy policy or terms of service is a critical compliance issue, especially for a government site like this that is expected to adhere to the highest standards regarding user data and legal disclosures.
While email authentication is well-configured, the critical HTTP 403 error prevents access to the actual website. This suggests a significant infrastructure problem that renders the site effectively unusable.
Signals Detected
This is one of the most visited websites globally
No structured data markup found
This business has no Trustpilot presence — not unusual for smaller or newer companies
Valid certificate, expires in 329 days
Certificate issued by IdenTrust
Connection uses TLS 1.3
crt.sh returned status 429
No robots.txt file — common for small sites
No favicon found — unusual for an established business
Site enforces HTTPS via HSTS
Web server: AkamaiGHost
No threats detected by Google Web Risk
Resolves to: 2a02:26f0:7100::210:148, 2a02:26f0:7100::210:111, 23.50.131.156, 23.50.131.141
Mail servers: smtp9.fda.gov., smtp7.fda.gov., smtp8.fda.gov., smtp6.fda.gov.
Domain has SPF email authentication configured
Domain has DMARC email authentication configured
DNS providers: a13-64.akam.net., a2-65.akam.net., a24-66.akam.net., a1-242.akam.net., a20-65.akam.net., a7-67.akam.net.
No sitemap found — common for smaller sites
Website returned status 403
No obvious contact information found on homepage
No privacy policy or terms of service found
No social media links found on homepage
Not found on any DNS blacklists
Domain created 2000-07-26T22:25:25Z (25 years, 1 months ago)
Registered through get.gov
Expires in 120 days
DNSSEC status from WHOIS
Could not query Wayback Machine
Fast page load
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