# PhishDestroy threat dossier — app.merkl.finance
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Fetched:   2026-05-25 01:50:09 UTC
Canonical: https://phishdestroy.io/domain/app.merkl.finance/

## VERDICT
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STATUS STALE — last probed 55 days ago, treat as ACTIVE until re-verified
Composite threat score: 100/100 (PhishDestroy scoring — see methodology below)
Scam classification: cryptocurrency
Wallet drainer: Angel Drainer

## DETECTION EVIDENCE
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VirusTotal:      9/95 security vendors flagged this domain
  Flagging vendors: BitDefender, CRDF, CyRadar, Fortinet, G-Data, Gridinsoft, Kaspersky, Seclookup, SOCRadar
URLQuery:        100 detections
Public blocklists: listed on 2 independent blocklists
Victim re-reports (public form): 1

## INFRASTRUCTURE
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IP address:      104.21.55.27 (US, San Francisco)
ASN:             ASAS13335 CLOUDFLARENET, US
Hosting org:     AS13335 Cloudflare, Inc.
Registrar:       Cloudflare, Inc.
Nameservers:     NS_NOT_FOUND
Page title:      Your rewards are waiting!
HTTP response:   520

## TLS CERTIFICATE
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Issuer:     Google Trust Services / WE1
Expires:    2026-04-25
Status:     INVALID chain
Fingerprint: bf383a92f741f98594b3fafd33afae1838bdcfd2998d2d734609763a206fc850
Subject Alternative Names (related infrastructure — often same operator):
  - merkl.finance

## ABUSE-REPORT HISTORY (evidence of registrar non-response)
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Status: pending notification queue. No abuse reports filed yet — this domain is
waiting for the next cycle of our automated abuse-reporter.

## TIMELINE
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First detected:    2026-02-25 02:39:27 UTC (by PhishDestroy tracker)
First reported:    2025-12-05 15:10:05 UTC (abuse notice filed)
Last verified:     2026-03-31 01:05:05 UTC (STALE — 55 days ago, re-verify)
Flagged dead:      2026-02-27 18:06:12 UTC (NOT RE-VERIFIED IN 55 DAYS — treat as unconfirmed)
Current status:    UNCONFIRMED (our live-probe is 55 days stale)

## EXTERNAL CORROBORATION (third-party evidence)
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URLScan.io:       https://urlscan.io/result/019aef0f-d29b-707c-8c09-589b52b27e0e/
Wayback Machine:  https://web.archive.org/web/*/app.merkl.finance
crt.sh CT logs:   https://crt.sh/?q=%25.app.merkl.finance
Google transparency: https://transparencyreport.google.com/safe-browsing/search?url=app.merkl.finance
AlienVault OTX:   https://otx.alienvault.com/indicator/domain/app.merkl.finance
URLhaus:          https://urlhaus.abuse.ch/host/app.merkl.finance/

## ANALYST NARRATIVE
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[Generated: 2026-03-19 02:10:45 UTC — narrative may predate facts above. Treat fields in TIMELINE / DETECTION EVIDENCE / INFRASTRUCTURE as authoritative if they differ from the prose below.]

PhishDestroy identifies app.merkl.finance as a medium-risk crypto drainer domain leveraging a known drainer kit named Angel Drainer. The site was designed to lure victims with promises of crypto rewards, indicated by its page title "Your rewards are waiting!". This domain falls under the category of cryptocurrency-focused scams aimed at illicitly draining users' digital assets.

Technical analysis reveals that app.merkl.finance resolved to IP address 104.21.55.27 and was registered through Cloudflare, Inc. Despite being flagged by 9 out of 95 VirusTotal security vendors and appearing on 2 security blocklists, the domain employed Angel Drainer infrastructure, a recognized toolkit for crypto asset theft. These indicators highlight a coordinated effort to exploit users seeking crypto incentives.

Currently, app.merkl.finance is offline and no longer accessible, reflecting effective mitigation steps by security entities. Its removal from active status reduces immediate risk, but the historical activity serves as a cautionary example of how attackers use specialized drainer kits combined with misleading incentives to compromise crypto wallets. Users should remain vigilant against similar emerging threats.

## EVIDENCE HASHES
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TLS cert SHA-256:      bf383a92f741f98594b3fafd33afae1838bdcfd2998d2d734609763a206fc850

## SCORING METHODOLOGY
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Composite score is NOT derived from VirusTotal alone. PhishDestroy aggregates:
  - VirusTotal positive ratio
  - Public blocklist consensus (MetaMask, ScamSniffer, OpenPhish, PhishTank, URLhaus,
    CryptoFirewall, SEAL, Polkadot, Enkrypt, Phishunt, DiscordPhishing, PhishingDB)
  - Cloaking detection (HTTP 666 or rendering delta between bot and real visitor)
  - DNS-filter consensus (Quad9, CleanBrowsing, NextDNS, AdGuard, Cloudflare, etc.)
  - AlienVault OTX pulses + Cloudflare Radar + Google Safe Browsing
  - URLScan / URLQuery verdicts
  - Brand-impersonation heuristics (DOM analysis of forms, logos, wording)
  - Known phishing-kit fingerprinting (favicon hash, JS obfuscation signatures)
  - Wallet-drainer family classification (Angel, MS, Rainbow, Pink, Inferno, ...)
  - Free-TLS vs paid-cert ratio (throwaway infrastructure signal)
  - Registrar/hosting abuse history (this registrar's track record)
  - Human researcher sign-off (volunteer takedown team)

A domain present in our database is ALREADY flagged. A low VT count by itself does
NOT mean the domain is safe — new scam domains routinely show 0/95 VT for their
first 7–30 days while actively draining wallets. Always cross-reference the composite
score and the individual indicators above, not just VT.

## CORRECTIONS / APPEALS
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Full HTML report:  https://phishdestroy.io/domain/app.merkl.finance/
JSON API:          https://api.destroy.tools/v1/check?domain=app.merkl.finance
Appeal a flag:     https://phishdestroy.io/appeals/  (responded to within 48 hours, FP rate <0.01%)
Submit a report:   https://t.me/PhishDestroy_bot

About PhishDestroy: volunteer-driven open-source threat-intelligence platform.
Tracked: 152,979 domains (39,789 alive under monitoring, 112,805 confirmed takedowns/dead). Site: https://phishdestroy.io