# PhishDestroy threat dossier — notepad-plus-plus.pro
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Fetched:   2026-07-13 05:13:50 UTC
Canonical: https://phishdestroy.io/domain/notepad-plus-plus.pro/

## 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:      8/91 security vendors flagged this domain
  Flagging vendors: ADMINUSLabs, alphaMountain.ai, BitDefender, Chong Lua Dao, Forcepoint ThreatSeeker, G-Data, Gridinsoft, SOCRadar
Public blocklists: listed on 3 independent blocklists

## INFRASTRUCTURE
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IP address:      172.67.185.97 (US, San Francisco)
ASN:             ASAS13335 CLOUDFLARENET - Cloudflare, Inc., US
Hosting org:     AS13335 Cloudflare, Inc.
Registrar:       Spaceship, Inc.
Nameservers:     harvey.ns.cloudflare.com, ruth.ns.cloudflare.com
Registered:      2026-05-24
Expires:         2027-05-24
Page title:      Notepad++ — Advanced Source Code Editor & Text Editor for Windows
HTTP response:   200

## TLS CERTIFICATE
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Issuer:     Let's Encrypt / E7
Expires:    2026-08-22
Status:     INVALID chain
Fingerprint: d2b593edf683d7fc9e126e681c30523c7005c3930b582a5587ab33f540885361

## 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: 2026-05-24 (per WHOIS / CT — may reflect a renewal or transfer date, not first-ever registration)
First detected:    2026-07-06 14:41:01 UTC (by PhishDestroy tracker)
Last verified:     2026-07-13 04:20:41 UTC
Neutralised:       2026-07-06 18:16:50 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/019f3770-fcc9-77bb-b886-dfd64908170b/
Wayback Machine:  https://web.archive.org/web/*/notepad-plus-plus.pro
crt.sh CT logs:   https://crt.sh/?q=%25.notepad-plus-plus.pro
Google transparency: https://transparencyreport.google.com/safe-browsing/search?url=notepad-plus-plus.pro
AlienVault OTX:   https://otx.alienvault.com/indicator/domain/notepad-plus-plus.pro
URLhaus:          https://urlhaus.abuse.ch/host/notepad-plus-plus.pro/

## ANALYST NARRATIVE
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[Generated: 2026-07-06 14:46:05 UTC — narrative may predate facts above. Treat fields in TIMELINE / DETECTION EVIDENCE / INFRASTRUCTURE as authoritative if they differ from the prose below.]

This domain is flagged as a high-risk generic phishing threat targeting users seeking legitimate software downloads. Analysis indicates the site impersonates the official Notepad++ source code editor, presenting a fraudulent download portal designed to distribute malicious payloads or harvest credentials. The threat type is classified as generic_phishing due to its broad targeting of software users rather than a specific organization or individual.  Infrastructure analysis reveals the domain notepad-plus-plus.pro was registered on May 24, 2026, through Spaceship, Inc., a registrar with a history of hosting suspicious domains. The site resolves to IP address 172.67.185.97 and employs a Let's Encrypt SSL certificate, which provides a false sense of security to visitors. Detection metrics show 6 out of 95 security vendors on VirusTotal have flagged the domain as malicious, while blocklist monitoring indicates limited but growing coverage. The page title, "Notepad++ — Advanced Source Code Editor & Text Editor for Windows," precisely matches the legitimate site, increasing the likelihood of successful deception.  Mitigation against this threat requires immediate action from network defenders and end users. Organizations should block the domain and its resolving IP at the perimeter firewall or DNS level to prevent access. Users who may have interacted with the site should scan systems for unauthorized software installations or network connections to 172.67.185.97. Security teams are advised to monitor for indicators of compromise, including unexpected processes or registry modifications associated with fake software installers. Verification of software downloads through official distribution channels remains the most effective countermeasure against this type of impersonation attack.

## EVIDENCE HASHES
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Favicon MD5:       23db96f1d6ada97a6d7aef21284b389d
TLS cert SHA-256:      d2b593edf683d7fc9e126e681c30523c7005c3930b582a5587ab33f540885361

## 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/notepad-plus-plus.pro/
JSON API:          https://api.destroy.tools/v1/check?domain=notepad-plus-plus.pro
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: 178,010 domains (49,744 alive under monitoring, 128,266 confirmed takedowns/dead). Site: https://phishdestroy.io