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Strange Email

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Ash

Ash

Level 22
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Aug 27, 2005
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I got a weird email at the start of January. I'm always interested when things aren't picked up by the spam filter so I took a look. No Nigerian Prince offering me millions unfortunately. There was an mp3 and word document attached. Both are free of viruses but I struggled to make head nor tail of them.

We had a discussion on another forum but couldn't get anywhere with it either. I've uploaded them to my dropbox; maybe someone here can do a bit of a better job.
 
Level 10
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Additionally, on that thread the website The Bardo Institute: Welcome was found.
Ash subscribed to the website and got another video linked with the text "dawn" The Bardo Institute: DAWN
(Video mirror)
This video has some scrambled text saying "Znvgerln; Frira_Fgrcf", which when slapped into a Rot13 cipher returns "Maitreya; Seven_Steps".

Minor to note is that it seems that the image in the background of the website seems to be hugely inspired or traced over the PT (Silent Hills Demo / Playable Teaser) hallway. As they seemingly line up almost perfectly.

This is probably due to the ARG organiser taking the image without much thought of where it came from.
(Or this is a teaser for a cancelled game :p)

unknown.png





EDIT:
As for the number sequence, i tried flat out mapping all the numbers to the table programatically, the result is kind of a mess as its raw data:
D.CodeJGGCodeINIHU().TOJACJO.NI.IReqNCodeXReqNCodeU.OOEITCode.XENCodeOTTINNCodeXTNCodeTZ-EFCodeAXNMTCodeAWOTCodeLAJAEKTD-'II.CodeTINNETTCodeNCodeTBJTVIINECodeReqAENCodeEOCodeAIRO-:FCodeTAAATN.NOOSZOCodeReqCodeATIAFig:pOBAA'RNTTTI'SpcI+IEE:TI+AZCodeSNEINRNIANCodeTSLINTOF:OINAOIENSpcITCodeNATACodeOCode.CodeCodeAPYEOOOEIIETACodeGIANNOII-OUE+A=OReqUOETNKEZAOTENICodeUCodeNBTZOSpcW()OFNOIRCodeQOYD=Code=OCodeCodeNTCodeETXHITCOQEYIIATCodeEFigA+HNTNNNANZ+JQT.AHAVNCodeFY=AECodeCodeCodeNOOOHPA=ITOOAWTEXICodeNCodeJRITNJAI()OECodeFNOOSpcKTETCodeEFigIECodeUNTCodeTEITERTYLCodeYEIITEECodeUTVOReqTVFECode()AEAER-OCodeNXEHOTCodeCodeCode.OCodeABR=EIWAEReqOEAGNEEAONKXCodeANDOEIGTNACodeCONBAOCodeO.OEIEIENTO.IXA:AENPCodeIAELATTNTCode=TEZCodeOENZGNEOTEOACodeITTCodeANOOVAVIEIFigECodeRTT()OCode:EIOCodeA.OI+ADCKReqOAANY=TCodeNI-AD.OUTTOReqICVAITCodeCode:OZOCodeNNSpcSOACodeFCodePJAASpcEOOTIAZYNDAReqO.WCodeTCodeEOACodeCodeCodeYN-ACodeTNTOJNIAOEEBISEETCodeReqEEEOVONSpcTZEEOWONOT'NTETOCodeECodeEOETTCodeUECodeO-TCodeOPI:WOL()Code()IJYTOTAEGTNATCodeIAOIIDMOOTAFigCodeICOAACodeZIP.ZXACodeOAVENAPIJAOTAILNNKCodeA.FOEITCodeOLINKNTONVITO=ON'R-CodeK:AM()ITSRUTWTPEIATNLAACEAVKNICodeAOHOREAAAIOTIIIOMEIAAIICodeEYA=NATESpc.EReqCodeEETQNCodeECodeANN+ENX+IFigCFigNAWCodeNCodeQDCodeGNCodeAIPCodeEIOPEOTOOATTNAGIRFigJE()N'TTAGNCACodeOZEFIEHENIOJCodeCodeQQWCOCodeIAACode()NANGEOCodeITNWEATADEIPAOMLNEFigMIICOCodeTTAIIONSIHEEECodeAIFVIACodeFATEIOIAM.AEYTCodeAOHUFNFNCodeNReqEI...ONCodeCodeOJIFigSpcGONCodeEOEITOCodeOFigCodeTT=+OEOEWNAAOEYOOReqETIAIORNCodeAY:ACodeEATTAYN'=EN'IAZIEAOLATECodeYRQBTPTTNDPQOCodeACodeEFCodeCodeITITCode()ReqCICode+CodeICodeONTAAAA'ANOReqOPVA'UINOLNACodeYNOEICodeTHEIEEEACHQNLOEEINCodeNNCodeIOE=ETOONTCodeOO.GTOTUICode()EWENELJW()()PODQECodeCodeFigANEATEEARAIJNXCodeAICodeTFigEHODI()CodeOCodeLAOECodeNTNENAIHV'IOE()NCodeNKTIONI=DEINEVOECode'NAATINAEWTIXCodeQNYAONEOANUII=RSCodeEITTT'APTBBOAAKCILCodeAI:IOZJACodeBNSpcEELA-CodeEOOINIIB:NI+CIACVY-IECodeOAOTCodeETISpcENOMNAQFigCodeCodeAAEOKEEENMPY-=TIQT'PNTEFigCGAE=AIOY'ACodeE:CTTU-FALNIICodeTLCodeTZECodeNCodeIONI.()QAOEOCodeCodeITEQOTILTTTEIZAEEWAE+ICodeOZCodeSpcT'ANReqAOOEOHCodeCodeLINE-NNNI+EETEIAII'CodeIECodeILTCodeNOCodeAICodeNINReqEWLQMFigNEOETT'EEEATNIOIKTCodeZZIAECodeINUICodeJEYAAENAEANEEWIAGANION.NEFONOG+FigAATTOG+TFAEEUAOCodeSECodeTCodeGNTEIAEO-NReqBCodeIOWCodeNAOTCodeI()IKNCodeASpcEGCodeCodeAReq:SReqE-EITJATIAQOONZAAILE:ZOKNEGBAAYCodeINHENITCodeIOWA-ATECNENIVGICodeCodeEOO=TNSUONOMEOIAIJCode'OANTNEGOOIANIUVAReqIONTNNE=EECodeEE.PAOQBTEINEDTOECodeVNCodeTTETXENEPAAYCodeIICodeOAUTVCodeCPAANOTSpcCodeAEEAWCodeFigETAGEZAOATISpcITNICodeXReqCCodeWACodeQAANKAFigO'OHTACodeTAIEQR

The number sequence for the numbers uttered in the radio station becomes:
HODYNF:CodeEA-SpcCodeTReqRN()EO-BUOX'TEDOCodeTAT'GEKACodeTITAEOOACENEOJAPNReqCodeO()

I have no idea what to currently make of it
 
Last edited:

Ash

Ash

Level 22
Joined
Aug 27, 2005
Messages
1,684
EDIT:
As for the number sequence, i tried flat out mapping all the numbers to the table programatically, the result is kind of a mess as its raw data:

The number sequence for the numbers uttered in the radio station becomes:

I have no idea what to currently make of it

The only thing I've noticed is that the first set of numbers from the audio file is the same as the first set listed on page 8 of the document. The rest of them are different. I don't know how numbers stations work; is this more than a coincidence?
 
Level 10
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The only thing I've noticed is that the first set of numbers from the audio file is the same as the first set listed on page 8 of the document. The rest of them are different. I don't know how numbers stations work; is this more than a coincidence?

Well, in this case the raw data doesnt make much sense so it must be related to the sequence more so than the actual 1 to 1 translation. Number stations tend to repeat every sequence atleast once which clues me into there being some very specific pattern.
 

Ash

Ash

Level 22
Joined
Aug 27, 2005
Messages
1,684
Additionally, on that thread the website The Bardo Institute: Welcome was found.
Ash subscribed to the website and got another video linked with the text "dawn" The Bardo Institute: DAWN
This video has some scrambled text saying "Znvgerln; Frira_Fgrcf", which when slapped into a Rot13 cipher returns "Maitreya; Seven_Steps".
Your links don't resolve.

Google tells me Maitreya is a bodhisattva that will appear on Earth, achieve enlightenment, and teach the pure dharma. Google then tells me dharma is just teaching, learning, or understanding. A bodhisattva is someone that is enlightened and works to teach others. I've got nothing on Seven Steps. Any idea what these are for?

Well, in this case the raw data doesnt make much sense so it must be related to the sequence more so than the actual 1 to 1 translation. Number stations tend to repeat every sequence atleast once which clues me into there being some very specific pattern.

Numbers Stations? How do they work?
 
Level 10
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Jan 13, 2017
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Well, the main website page has changed:
upload_2021-1-20_17-11-0.png

I did a reverse image search on it, found nothing.
Looked through the file in a text editor, found nothing of interest.
I played around with RGB channels in a photo editing program, but it yielded nothing of interest (but my photo editing skills are lacking so).
No meta data in this file(3-1.webp), the only meta data would be from my PC in that case.

As for the page itself i checked:
Javascript
Html tags
CSS
Network traffic.

But found nothing of interest so far sadly.
 

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Level 3
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I got a weird email at the start of January. I'm always interested when things aren't picked up by the spam filter so I took a look. No Nigerian Prince offering me millions unfortunately. There was an mp3 and word document attached. Both are free of viruses but I struggled to make head nor tail of them.

We had a discussion on another forum but couldn't get anywhere with it either. I've uploaded them to my dropbox; maybe someone here can do a bit of a better job.
Can you please tell us who sent that email? The email address of sender may help us to understand the purpose of that' strange email'
 

Dr Super Good

Spell Reviewer
Level 63
Joined
Jan 18, 2005
Messages
27,180
Such MP3 files might contain malware in the form of player exploits. The idea being that when run on a vulnerable player, they cause arbitrary code execution that allows some payload, the actual malware, to be delivered. Anti-virus scans may not be able to detect these and often the players they are targeting are very old, as the security updates for them may have long fixed the exploit used. This is why one should never run or "open" a file that arrived with an unsolicited email.
 
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