Pls help - simple rule does not work!

hashcat version: 4.2.1
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1st I try this:

hashcat64.exe -m 2500 -a 0 crackme.hccapx  "C:\WORDLISTS\simple.txt"

(where "simple.txt" contains only the word "password123")

Result: hash is cracked


Now I put a simple rule "$1$2$3" in a file named "TEST.rule" and execute:


hashcat64.exe -m 2500 -a 0 crackme.hccapx  "C:\WORDLISTS\simple.txt" -r rules\TEST.rule 

Result: not cracked

If I force hashcat to display what candidate(s) it creates/uses with:

hashcat64.exe -m 2500 -a 0 crackme.hccapx  "C:\WORDLISTS\simple.txt" -r rules\TEST.rule  --stdout

The console outcome is gibberish. There is a final line that contains "password123" yet the hash somehow fails to crack.

Any ideas?