I found the following email in my inbox:
I almost disregarded this as spam at first but further investigation revealed a curious puzzle. The web page has the following appearance:
(I am security conscious and opened the page in a VM for safety.)
Here is the website's source code (line numbers added by myself):
1 The Game is On
2
3 TELO SY RF IDAXF BVIHUIX LXAG
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Only the French would truly understand.
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6
Poor Mr. Bellaso.
7
8
9 N
10 O
11 P
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14 O
15 P
16 Q
17
18
19 P
20 Q
21 R
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26 me@noreallyitis.me
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6 levels deep.
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Current Payout: 0.00765 BTC
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Contribute to the winnings: 18zFNTrjYcGt6N6uw58KqFUXE5WeaTtUsc
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I tried using ROT13 on the message along the top, but no transpositions seemed to produce meaningful English or French (granted, I don't speak French, but I could probably recognize words that sounded French :P).
One possible clue I was able to come up with: Bellaso was an Italian cryptologist.
The Help Center requires that I mention that:
- this puzzle is not my own
- I am not aware that an answer exists yet for the puzzle
Answer
Upon examining the site more closely, I noticed two things:
There was a hidden link to a page with a Tabula Recta:
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M
O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N
P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O
Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P
R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q
S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R
T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S
U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T
V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U
W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V
X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W
Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X
Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A
C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B
D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C
E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D
F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E
G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F
H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G
I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H
J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I
K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J
L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K
M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K LThere was a comment as a hint on the page:
The key is in the clue
And we have a solution!
SEND ME AN EMAIL SUBJECT EZPZ
Only the French would truly understand.:
I'm honestly not sure. Perhaps hinting on some unique French trait or cultural part?
Update: This is quite literally the key towards the cipher. Exactly as it is here.
NOP / OPQ / PQR:
Seems to be hinting towards the Tabula Recta above.
Poor Mr. Bellaso:
As the Vigenere cipher was actually invented by our dear friend Bellaso, but mis-attributed to Vigenere, who made a similar cipher. Perhaps this clues to using the Vigenere cipher on the Tabula?
Update: It is.
6 levels deep.:
It seems strange that this is so far from the rest of the text. Maybe this isn't part of the puzzle? If it is, maybe the ciphertext was encoded six times? Maybe this puzzle has more than one part?
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