# PhishDestroy threat dossier — kucoinverify.com
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Fetched:   2026-05-18 02:48:09 UTC
Canonical: https://phishdestroy.io/domain/kucoinverify.com/

## VERDICT
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TAKEN DOWN (neutralised)
Composite threat score: 100/100 (PhishDestroy scoring — see methodology below)
Scam classification: cryptocurrency
Targeted brand: KuCoin

## DETECTION EVIDENCE
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VirusTotal:      10/95 security vendors flagged this domain
  Flagging vendors: ADMINUSLabs, alphaMountain.ai, BitDefender, ESET, Forcepoint ThreatSeeker, Fortinet, G-Data, Kaspersky, Sophos, Webroot
Public blocklists: listed on 1 independent blocklist

## INFRASTRUCTURE
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IP address:      198.12.66.123 (US, Buffalo)
ASN:             ASAS36352 AS-COLOCROSSING, US
Hosting org:     AS36352 HostPapa
Registered:      2026-02-21
Page title:      Crypto Exchange

## TLS CERTIFICATE
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Issuer:     R10
Status:     INVALID chain

## ABUSE-REPORT HISTORY (evidence of registrar non-response)
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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
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Domain registered: 2026-02-21 (per WHOIS / CT — may reflect a renewal or transfer date, not first-ever registration)
First detected:    2026-02-26 23:24:28 UTC (by PhishDestroy tracker)
Last verified:     2026-05-16 07:40:23 UTC
Neutralised:       2026-03-27 21:12:20 UTC
Current status:    taken down (registrar suspended or DNS dead)

## EXTERNAL CORROBORATION (third-party evidence)
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URLScan.io:       https://urlscan.io/result/0198f926-a4fd-770b-9e0d-e0bdb58fd1fd/
Wayback Machine:  https://web.archive.org/web/*/kucoinverify.com
crt.sh CT logs:   https://crt.sh/?q=%25.kucoinverify.com
Google transparency: https://transparencyreport.google.com/safe-browsing/search?url=kucoinverify.com
AlienVault OTX:   https://otx.alienvault.com/indicator/domain/kucoinverify.com
URLhaus:          https://urlhaus.abuse.ch/host/kucoinverify.com/

## ANALYST NARRATIVE
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[Generated: 2026-03-19 02:07:29 UTC — narrative may predate facts above. Treat fields in TIMELINE / DETECTION EVIDENCE / INFRASTRUCTURE as authoritative if they differ from the prose below.]

PhishDestroy identifies kucoinverify.com as a high-risk phishing domain engaged in brand impersonation targeting KuCoin users. Classified under brand impersonation, the site mimics KuCoin's interface under the page title “Crypto Exchange” to deceive victims into revealing sensitive information.

Technical analysis reveals that kucoinverify.com was registered on February 21, 2026, and currently resolves to IP address 198.12.66.123. VirusTotal flags this domain by 10 out of 95 security vendors, and it appears on one known security blocklist, confirming its malicious nature. The domain infrastructure supports a credential stealing operation designed to harvest user account data.

The campaign remains active as of the latest intelligence. Users are advised to avoid interacting with kucoinverify.com and report any suspicious communications referencing KuCoin. PhishDestroy continues monitoring this threat to support timely detection and mitigation efforts.

## 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/kucoinverify.com/
JSON API:          https://api.destroy.tools/v1/check?domain=kucoinverify.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: 150,737 domains (34,849 alive under monitoring, 115,581 confirmed takedowns/dead). Site: https://phishdestroy.io