# PhishDestroy threat dossier — merkl.sale ================================================================ Fetched: 2026-05-25 13:55:45 UTC Canonical: https://phishdestroy.io/domain/merkl.sale/ ## VERDICT ---------------------------------------------------------------- STATUS STALE — last probed 55 days ago, treat as ACTIVE until re-verified Composite threat score: 72/100 (PhishDestroy scoring — see methodology below) Scam classification: cryptocurrency Targeted brand: Airdrop Scam ## DETECTION EVIDENCE ---------------------------------------------------------------- VirusTotal: 5/93 security vendors flagged this domain Flagging vendors: ADMINUSLabs, CyRadar, Forcepoint ThreatSeeker, Fortinet, SOCRadar Public blocklists: listed on 1 independent blocklist Victim re-reports (public form): 1 ## INFRASTRUCTURE ---------------------------------------------------------------- IP address: 188.114.97.3 (US, San Francisco) ASN: ASAS13335 Cloudflare, Inc. 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: ["nicole.ns.cloudflare.com", "cash.ns.cloudflare.com"] Registered: 2026-02-21 Expires: 2026-12-08 Page title: Stable Airdrop Claim | Stable Airdrop Portal | Claim Stable Tokens | Merkl Airdrop Portal Access ## TLS CERTIFICATE ---------------------------------------------------------------- Issuer: Google Trust Services / WE1 Expires: 2026-05-07 Status: INVALID chain Fingerprint: fe461e64a1595a8c28f2f9faf3b56ff2522e2a2e02cdb52227bb7b26534f4092 ## ABUSE-REPORT HISTORY (evidence of registrar non-response) ---------------------------------------------------------------- Status: pending notification queue. No abuse reports filed yet — this domain is waiting for the next cycle of our automated abuse-reporter. ## TIMELINE ---------------------------------------------------------------- Domain registered: 2026-02-21 (per WHOIS / CT — may reflect a renewal or transfer date, not first-ever registration) First detected: 2026-02-25 02:39:27 UTC (by PhishDestroy tracker) Earliest abuse rec: 2026-02-13 09:52:53 UTC — PREDATES current WHOIS registration; retained from a previous registration cycle of the same domain name Last verified: 2026-03-31 01:23:43 UTC (STALE — 55 days ago, re-verify) Flagged dead: 2026-02-27 16:37:11 UTC (NOT RE-VERIFIED IN 55 DAYS — treat as unconfirmed) Current status: UNCONFIRMED (our live-probe is 55 days stale) Note: one or more events above predate the WHOIS creation date. This typically means the same domain name was previously registered, detected, dropped, and then re-registered by a new party. PhishDestroy preserves the full historical record for operator-attribution research even when the underlying infrastructure changes hands. ## EXTERNAL CORROBORATION (third-party evidence) ---------------------------------------------------------------- URLScan.io: https://urlscan.io/result/019c55c4-46e1-704a-a0a5-34aa883a5e0d/ Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/*/merkl.sale crt.sh CT logs: https://crt.sh/?q=%25.merkl.sale Google transparency: https://transparencyreport.google.com/safe-browsing/search?url=merkl.sale AlienVault OTX: https://otx.alienvault.com/indicator/domain/merkl.sale URLhaus: https://urlhaus.abuse.ch/host/merkl.sale/ ## ANALYST NARRATIVE ---------------------------------------------------------------- [Generated: 2026-03-19 02:43:07 UTC — narrative may predate facts above. Treat fields in TIMELINE / DETECTION EVIDENCE / INFRASTRUCTURE as authoritative if they differ from the prose below.] PhishDestroy identifies merkl.sale as a medium-risk generic phishing domain impersonating a stable token airdrop portal to lure victims into divulging sensitive information. The site’s page title suggested false promises of claiming stable tokens through an airdrop. Technically, merkl.sale was registered on February 21, 2026, via NiceNIC International Group Co., Limited, resolving to IP 188.114.97.3. It appeared on one security blocklist and was flagged by 5 out of 95 security vendors on VirusTotal, indicating some consensus on malicious activity. The domain is currently offline, reflecting actions taken to mitigate its threat. Users are advised to remain cautious and avoid interaction with similar fraudulent airdrop sites to prevent credential theft. ## EVIDENCE HASHES ---------------------------------------------------------------- Favicon SHA-256: 767583714ef53f62036605879eef7051a0b4b7ffa9e9ea5a9a62b23b6d906921 TLS cert SHA-256: fe461e64a1595a8c28f2f9faf3b56ff2522e2a2e02cdb52227bb7b26534f4092 ## 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/merkl.sale/ JSON API: https://api.destroy.tools/v1/check?domain=merkl.sale 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 (39,684 alive under monitoring, 112,909 confirmed takedowns/dead). Site: https://phishdestroy.io