# PhishDestroy threat dossier — claim-merlintheduck.com ================================================================ Fetched: 2026-06-27 19:26:55 UTC Canonical: https://phishdestroy.io/domain/claim-merlintheduck.com/ ## VERDICT ---------------------------------------------------------------- TAKEN DOWN (neutralised) Composite threat score: 100/100 (PhishDestroy scoring — see methodology below) Scam classification: Impersonation Targeted brand: Solana ## DETECTION EVIDENCE ---------------------------------------------------------------- VirusTotal: 4/91 security vendors flagged this domain Flagging vendors: alphaMountain.ai, Fortinet, Gridinsoft, SOCRadar Public blocklists: listed on 2 independent blocklists ## INFRASTRUCTURE ---------------------------------------------------------------- IP address: 104.21.78.186 (US, San Francisco) ASN: ASAS13335 CLOUDFLARENET - Cloudflare, Inc., US Hosting org: AS13335 Cloudflare, Inc. Registrar: NICENIC INTERNATIONAL GROUP CO., LIMITED !!! REGISTRAR INTEGRITY ALERT — NiceNIC !!! NiceNIC International: over 90% of its registered domains are associated with illegal content; documented systematic abuse-report non-response. Primary sources: https://phishdestroy.io/nicenic-real https://phishdestroy.io/nicenic-verdict Nameservers: keaton.ns.cloudflare.com, oaklyn.ns.cloudflare.com Registered: 2026-06-17 Expires: 2027-06-17 Page title: $MERLIN — The People's Duck · Solana Meme Coin ## TLS CERTIFICATE ---------------------------------------------------------------- Issuer: Google Trust Services / WE1 Expires: 2026-09-15 Status: INVALID chain Fingerprint: a11e66fda6aa0ce88455ab8227168dbfeb6c51a2838000f5281678fec879088e ## 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: 2026-06-17 (per WHOIS / CT — may reflect a renewal or transfer date, not first-ever registration) First detected: 2026-06-25 06:38:29 UTC (by PhishDestroy tracker) Last verified: 2026-06-27 20:20:35 UTC Neutralised: 2026-06-25 18:19:52 UTC Current status: taken down (registrar suspended or DNS dead) ## EXTERNAL CORROBORATION (third-party evidence) ---------------------------------------------------------------- URLScan.io: https://urlscan.io/result/019efd11-d476-750d-b1bd-ad2650c9f415/ Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/*/claim-merlintheduck.com crt.sh CT logs: https://crt.sh/?q=%25.claim-merlintheduck.com Google transparency: https://transparencyreport.google.com/safe-browsing/search?url=claim-merlintheduck.com AlienVault OTX: https://otx.alienvault.com/indicator/domain/claim-merlintheduck.com URLhaus: https://urlhaus.abuse.ch/host/claim-merlintheduck.com/ ## ANALYST NARRATIVE ---------------------------------------------------------------- [Generated: 2026-06-26 13:41:21 UTC — narrative may predate facts above. Treat fields in TIMELINE / DETECTION EVIDENCE / INFRASTRUCTURE as authoritative if they differ from the prose below.] This domain, claim-merlintheduck.com, was identified as part of a brand impersonation campaign targeting users of the Solana blockchain ecosystem. The site presented itself as a legitimate Solana meme coin project under the name $MERLIN — The People's Duck, a tactic designed to deceive users into engaging with fraudulent cryptocurrency offerings. Such schemes often aim to harvest wallet credentials, trick users into approving malicious transactions, or distribute counterfeit tokens, leading to financial losses or unauthorized access to digital assets. The use of branding associated with a well-known blockchain platform increases the likelihood of successful social engineering, particularly among users familiar with meme coin culture or decentralized finance (DeFi) projects. Analysis indicates that the domain was registered on June 17, 2024, through NICENIC INTERNATIONAL GROUP CO., LIMITED, a registrar frequently observed in connection with high-risk domains. The site resolved to the IP address 104.21.78.186 and employed infrastructure commonly associated with content delivery networks, including Cloudflare and HTTP/3. Detection metrics reveal that 4 out of 95 security vendors flagged the domain as malicious, while it appeared on two independent security blocklists. Additionally, the domain was proactively blocked by at least two specialized threat intelligence platforms, further corroborating its association with fraudulent activity. The SSL certificate issued by Google Trust Services provided a veneer of legitimacy, though such certificates are routinely obtained by malicious actors to evade basic security warnings. Users who visited claim-merlintheduck.com or interacted with its content should take immediate corrective actions to mitigate potential risks. First, disconnect any cryptocurrency wallets that may have been connected to the site and revoke any suspicious token approvals or smart contract interactions using a blockchain explorer or wallet management tool. Monitor wallet activity for unauthorized transactions and consider transferring assets to a new wallet if compromise is suspected. Report the domain to relevant blockchain security platforms and local cybercrime authorities to aid in broader mitigation efforts. Exercise heightened caution when engaging with unverified projects, particularly those promoting meme coins or high-yield investment opportunities, and verify the authenticity of domains through official project channels before interacting with them. ## EVIDENCE HASHES ---------------------------------------------------------------- Favicon MD5: 3dfbbf8c5f4509a0ca435cfa5a9f3f82 TLS cert SHA-256: a11e66fda6aa0ce88455ab8227168dbfeb6c51a2838000f5281678fec879088e ## 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 (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 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Full HTML report: https://phishdestroy.io/domain/claim-merlintheduck.com/ JSON API: https://api.destroy.tools/v1/check?domain=claim-merlintheduck.com 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: 170,916 domains (12,726 alive under monitoring, 157,778 confirmed takedowns/dead). Site: https://phishdestroy.io