u/TranquilSniper

About a week ago, I purchased a 20 TB WDC Ultrastar from GoHardDrive.com. Checked out, got the confirmation email, thought nothing of it (except how gross it felt spending $600 on a refurbished HDD).

Over the weekend, they emailed me. They froze the transaction so their "credit department" can verify my info. They asked me to fill out a PDF with the same billing info I put in when I checked out. I was hesitant to do so, but reiterated my billing and shipping details. Then they hit me with this:

"Your authorization form is incomplete. There are documentations required – Copy of credit card (Front & Back) and Driver License for our credit department review to proceed with your order."

Exact wording from the email. Apparently you need a credit check to buy something with a debit card. This is not my first rodeo purchasing a hard drive, and won't be my last. In all my time, I've never seen something like this. In what world do you have to resort to such lengths? This isn't crypto. My bank called me and I authorized the purchase with them. It should be a done deal.

This was extremely shady and raised a ton of red flags. I told them to cancel the transaction, and forwarded the name and address of the business to my lawyer and bank. Locked the card I used as well and am awaiting a new one.

Bought the same drive for an extra $50 on ServerPartDeals without a single issue. Free shipping, too.

If anyone has a similar experience or can tell me what the hell was going on here, would be much appreciated.

Update: Bank said all good, they will monitor my account and flag the vendor. The email was legit, not spoofed. I think this was genuinely just the company being dumb as rocks and unfamiliar with US business practices. Extremely shady approach but not malicious. Hard to not be paranoid with the amount of money and trust involved. Thank you to everyone who chimed in and helped figure this out. Be careful out there.

27M, 6'1 195 lbs (~37% BF) - I am attempting a body recomp to get my weight down to 170 or below, with my body fat to <=20%. I used to work with a trainer some 5 years ago, but they moved away and so did I. I've been through a lot with my career and am now finally settling into a long-term routine since I found my footing. I am in a new gym with some different equipment, but have been able to bring with me some of the routine I used to do. Muscle memory has helped me retain proper form for the most part. I am trying to build out a weekly routine that covers all areas. Was hoping to get some feedback on if I am doing too much / too little.

Basically I am doing a 3-way split, twice a week makes 6 days Mon-Sat with Sunday being for recovery. I do 30 minutes of cardio after each session (I do the 12/3/30 routine on incline treadmill). As for my diet, I went to a nutritionist and got set to 1900 calories daily (~2100 on workout days). 120g of protein and higher fiber intake being the main focus of my diet goals.

Day 1 - Upper Body - Arms / Chest:

• Dumbbell Chest Press (4x12)
• Standing Dumbbell Bicep Curls (4x12)
• Machine Lat Pulldowns (4x12)
• Fly Machine (4x12)

Day 2 - Core / Abs:

• Russian Twists (w/ medicine ball) (4x30)
• Dumbbell Leg Overs (4x12)
• Leg Lifts (4x12)
• Crunches (4x12)

Day 3 - Lower Body - Legs / Thighs:

• Squats (w/ dumbbell) (4x12)
• Leg Press (4x12)
• Machine Leg Extension (4x12)

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I've been doing this routine for a few weeks now and it has gotten easier to do. Soreness is no longer a major issue, and I'm planning on adding creatine to my daily regimen. I plan on doing progressive overload with the weights and number of sets / reps, but want to make sure this is a sustainable and efficient schedule before I get into it. I'm worried that I am maybe missing something from my routine and wanted a second opinion on if this is too much or too little.

Any feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks!

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bmo-and-rex-shares-launch-microsectors-3O-long-and--3O-short-artificial-intelligence-ai-etns-nyse-arca-aiqu-aiqd-302787520.html

Thoughts?

I need to scan my face for IRS tax purposes. I don't have a choice and a massive tax refund is on the line.

The IRS page interacting with my GOS phone is like a missionary interacting with an uncontacted tribe. It freaks the fuck out. It says my device doesn't support "motion filming" and despite maxing out all permissions on Vanadium, camera and all, it completely shuts down.

Anybody know if there is a fix for this or if I should just use another device? I know it makes a gaping hole in my OPSEC but Uncle Sam isn't exactly part of my threat profile. GOS wouldn't do jack shit against Palantir anyways.