# PhishDestroy threat dossier — bitly.cx ================================================================ Fetched: 2026-07-16 09:56:22 UTC Canonical: https://phishdestroy.io/domain/bitly.cx/ ## VERDICT ---------------------------------------------------------------- TAKEN DOWN (neutralised) Composite threat score: 100/100 (PhishDestroy scoring — see methodology below) ## DETECTION EVIDENCE ---------------------------------------------------------------- VirusTotal: 13/91 security vendors flagged this domain Flagging vendors: ADMINUSLabs, alphaMountain.ai, Certego, Chong Lua Dao, CyRadar, ESTsecurity, Forcepoint ThreatSeeker, Gridinsoft, Lionic, Phishing Database, VIPRE, Webroot, Yandex Safebrowsing AlienVault OTX: 50 pulses (threat-intel feed mentions) Public blocklists: listed on 3 independent blocklists ## INFRASTRUCTURE ---------------------------------------------------------------- IP address: 188.114.97.3 (CA, Toronto) ASN: AS13335 Cloudflare, Inc. Hosting org: CloudFlare, Inc. Registrar: CentralNic Ltd Nameservers: lola.ns.cloudflare.com, simon.ns.cloudflare.com Registered: 2023-12-16 Expires: 2026-12-16 Page title: URL Shortener - Smart and Powerful Short URLs Link Shortener | Bitly.cx HTTP response: 200 ## TLS CERTIFICATE ---------------------------------------------------------------- Issuer: Google Trust Services / WE1 Expires: 2026-08-21 Status: INVALID chain Fingerprint: 147d8e92ea3c716333faabb7c0d1db0b09066546cb8b614f8bf27dd759fcd00a ## ABUSE-REPORT HISTORY (evidence of registrar non-response) ---------------------------------------------------------------- Status: CLOSED — no report required. This domain was neutralised before the abuse-report cycle could be dispatched — either the hosting provider / registrar suspended it on their own, the DNS went dead, or the operator abandoned the infrastructure. PhishDestroy keeps the evidence bundle on file for audit but no formal notice was sent. ## TIMELINE ---------------------------------------------------------------- Domain registered: 2023-12-16 (per WHOIS / CT — may reflect a renewal or transfer date, not first-ever registration) First detected: 2026-07-08 13:22:26 UTC (by PhishDestroy tracker) Last verified: 2026-07-16 08:20:41 UTC Neutralised: 2026-07-08 18:17:53 UTC Current status: taken down (registrar suspended or DNS dead) ## EXTERNAL CORROBORATION (third-party evidence) ---------------------------------------------------------------- URLScan.io: https://urlscan.io/result/019f4176-39fd-75aa-81ff-11487143f40f/ URLQuery: https://urlquery.net/report/856aafb3-ac70-47f3-b8c7-a939f515a326 Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/*/bitly.cx crt.sh CT logs: https://crt.sh/?q=%25.bitly.cx Google transparency: https://transparencyreport.google.com/safe-browsing/search?url=bitly.cx AlienVault OTX: https://otx.alienvault.com/indicator/domain/bitly.cx URLhaus: https://urlhaus.abuse.ch/host/bitly.cx/ ## ANALYST NARRATIVE ---------------------------------------------------------------- [Generated: 2026-07-08 13:25:54 UTC — narrative may predate facts above. Treat fields in TIMELINE / DETECTION EVIDENCE / INFRASTRUCTURE as authoritative if they differ from the prose below.] This domain, bitly.cx, is actively engaged in generic phishing activity designed to mimic legitimate URL shortening services. Analysis of the page title, 'URL Shortener - Smart and Powerful Short URLs Link Shortener | Bitly.cx,' indicates an attempt to impersonate established brands in the link management sector, likely to harvest user credentials or distribute malicious payloads. No specific drainer kit signatures have been confirmed at this time, but the domain exhibits characteristics consistent with credential phishing and social engineering campaigns. Infrastructure analysis reveals the following technical indicators: the domain resolves to the IP address 188.114.97.3 and was registered on December 16, 2023, through CentralNic Ltd. Security vendor detections on VirusTotal report 13 out of 95 engines flagging the domain as malicious. The domain appears on four security blocklists, including CryptoFirewall, PhishingArmy, PhishingDB, and BLP-Malware. The SSL certificate is issued by Google Trust Services, which may lend an appearance of legitimacy to unsuspecting users. Google Safe Browsing status has not been explicitly provided, but the presence on multiple blocklists suggests widespread recognition of its malicious nature. As of the latest assessment, bitly.cx remains active and unresolved by domain authorities. No takedown actions or registrar interventions have been observed, leaving the infrastructure intact for continued abuse. Users are advised to treat this domain as highly suspicious and avoid interaction with any links or resources associated with it. Organizations should consider implementing network-level blocks for the domain and its resolving IP address to mitigate potential exposure. Given the domain's recent creation and persistent activity, ongoing monitoring is recommended to track any shifts in tactics or infrastructure. ## EVIDENCE HASHES ---------------------------------------------------------------- Favicon MD5: 163bbc1c8b9efa1639e490e67c8679bf TLS cert SHA-256: 147d8e92ea3c716333faabb7c0d1db0b09066546cb8b614f8bf27dd759fcd00a ## SCORING METHODOLOGY ---------------------------------------------------------------- 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 (operator 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 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Full HTML report: https://phishdestroy.io/domain/bitly.cx/ JSON API: https://api.destroy.tools/v1/check?domain=bitly.cx 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: independent open-source threat-intelligence platform. Tracked: 179,272 domains (50,786 alive under monitoring, 128,486 confirmed takedowns/dead). Site: https://phishdestroy.io