# PhishDestroy threat dossier — merkl.store
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Fetched:   2026-07-25 18:59:47 UTC
Canonical: https://phishdestroy.io/domain/merkl.store/

## VERDICT
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TAKEN DOWN (neutralised)
Composite threat score: 100/100 (PhishDestroy scoring — see methodology below)

## DETECTION EVIDENCE
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VirusTotal:      10/91 security vendors flagged this domain
  Flagging vendors: alphaMountain.ai, BitDefender, CRDF, CyRadar, ESET, Forcepoint ThreatSeeker, Fortinet, G-Data, Gridinsoft, SOCRadar
AlienVault OTX:  2 pulses (threat-intel feed mentions)
Public blocklists: listed on 1 independent blocklist

## INFRASTRUCTURE
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IP address:      172.67.167.34 (CA, Toronto)
ASN:             AS13335 Cloudflare, Inc.
Hosting org:     Cloudflare, Inc.
Registrar:       Dynadot Inc
Nameservers:     ["abby.ns.cloudflare.com", "alberto.ns.cloudflare.com"]
Page title:      merkl.store | 523: Origin is unreachable
HTTP response:   404

## TLS CERTIFICATE
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Issuer:     Google Trust Services / WE1
Expires:    2026-09-27
Status:     INVALID chain
Fingerprint: 8cb9f57e2578730a99bd3dfebd5517374a332714b5228ac8e70c6fc3ed1881bb

## 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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First detected:    2026-07-19 12:38:14 UTC (by PhishDestroy tracker)
Last verified:     2026-07-25 20:20:23 UTC
Neutralised:       2026-07-21 00:22:35 UTC
Current status:    taken down (registrar suspended or DNS dead)

## ANALYST NARRATIVE
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[Generated: 2026-07-20 00:49:17 UTC — narrative may predate facts above. Treat fields in TIMELINE / DETECTION EVIDENCE / INFRASTRUCTURE as authoritative if they differ from the prose below.]

merkl.store Safety Check — Phishing Detected via Cloudflare

Analysis indicates that merkl.store is an active phishing domain registered through Dynadot Inc on an unspecified date. The domain resolves to IP address 172.67.167.34, which is geolocated in Canada and operated by Cloudflare, Inc. Infrastructure analysis reveals the use of Cloudflare nameservers (abby.ns.cloudflare.com and alberto.ns.cloudflare.com) and a 301 HTTP redirect, a common tactic to obscure the final malicious destination. The SSL certificate is issued by Google Trust Services (WE1), which does not inherently validate the legitimacy of the site but ensures encrypted connections.  As of July 19, 2026, the domain appears on one security blocklist and has been flagged by 10 of 91 security vendors on VirusTotal, confirming its classification as a phishing threat. AlienVault OTX records the domain in two threat intelligence pulses, further corroborating its malicious status. The specific brand or service being impersonated is not yet confirmed in available data, and the exact content of the phishing page remains unanalyzed. Defenders are advised to treat merkl.store as high-risk and implement blocking measures at the DNS or network level. Given its continued activity and Cloudflare-hosted infrastructure, monitoring for changes in resolution or additional detection reports is recommended.

[Updates since narrative was generated:]
  - VirusTotal detections: now 10/91 (narrative was written when count was lower)

## EVIDENCE HASHES
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TLS cert SHA-256:      8cb9f57e2578730a99bd3dfebd5517374a332714b5228ac8e70c6fc3ed1881bb

## 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 (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
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Full HTML report:  https://phishdestroy.io/domain/merkl.store/
JSON API:          https://api.destroy.tools/v1/check?domain=merkl.store
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: 192,397 domains (62,583 alive under monitoring, 128,255 confirmed takedowns/dead). Site: https://phishdestroy.io