Remember phishing? Now there’s smishing, a new kind of electronic identity theft targeting uses of smartphones and tablets. But although the venue may be new, these scammers are simply adapting the same old tried and true tactics that con artists used to use on the telephone.

In those old days, people would get phone calls from someone claiming to be a representative of their bank or credit card company who told them that they needed to update their account information or verify their account because it had been compromised. The unsuspecting – and now thoroughly panicked – account holder would turn over whatever the caller requested – account numbers, social security numbers, passwords and whatever else would solve the problem the caller described.

Now, those schemes have taken to the Internet like ducks to water. The much-publicized “phishing” does the same thing through emails that bear logos and web addresses similar to the real institutions a user does business with. And the same requests are made – to update account information, verify accounts, or retrieve information lost during a glitch or virus. Because the emails always appear so official looking, unwary users get trapped before they know it.

The latest incarnation, going by the newly coined name of smishing, relies on the fact that so many people use smartphones and other kinds of mobile devices to conduct transactions of all kinds, including sensitive financial ones. And that means storing a lot of personal information on the device.

The smishing operation is simple and uses SMS messaging rather than phone calls or emails. But the process is very nearly the same. Users get text messages from sites purporting to represent their banks, brokerages, credit card companies or even merchants they’ve done business with. These messages ask them to update their information ASAP in order to keep accounts current, restore lost data or resolve some other sort of problem. And, just as victims of pone scams and phishing have done, these smartphone users panic, don’t question, and supply the information.

Security and fraud experts warn that legitimate institutors generally don’t ask for personal information like this. If that kind of message shows up check with the institution it claims to be from – they need to be notified about scams using their names. And never give out personal information n response to such a message –again, contact the company in question about whether there’s a problem with your accounts.

As we noted in a recent post, over half of all home buyers and sellers rely on the Internet for conducting business related to property transactions. And much of it happens on mobile devices. Staying informed and staying in control are two of Jason Hartman’s key recommendations for building a successful investing career – and they’ll save you from becoming a smishing victim too.

How did the FBI end up with over $3 million in Bitcoins? How did the virtual currency become the medium of choice for transactions on the cybernarcotics site Silk Road? And more important, perhaps – why should we care? The saga of the world’s first digital money continues with the Bitcoin’s first known foray into the world of online crime.

Not long ago, the FBI arrested the alleged owner of Silk Road, Ross William Ulbricht, who went by the name “Dread Pirate Roberts” in running a website that’s estimated to have conducted around 9.5 million Bitcoins worth of sales in illegal substances. In shutting the site down, the FBI ended up seizing $3.6 million of the digital currency, which it still holds.

It’s not clear what the FBI is going to do with the confiscated Bitcoins – use them, liquidate them on the Bitcoin marketplace, or hang on to them. But there’s a cap on the total number of Bitcoins that can exist – 21 million. And the agency’s seizure of Silk Road’s Bitcoin assets takes a bite out of that. The result: a drop in Bitcoin stock values and also in the value of the coins themselves.

Bitcoins are free-floating entirely digital currency, unattached to any bank, and available either by purchase or by “mining” – solving a series of complex computer tasks to generate more. They’re becoming more and more widely used in online marketplaces of all kinds, and even offline ones, as the recent birth of the first “Bitcoin baby” highlighted a California fertility doctor’s willingness to accept them in payment for his services.

Now, though, the very essence of the Bitcoin – its anonymous, easy use for any online transactions that two parties agree to – is being investigated. Following the Silk Road incident, Bitcoin users panicked, fearing that their online transactions could be traced through the digital “footprint” left by their Bitcoins.

That’s a concern shared by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security. Both agencies had concerns about the increasing use of Bitcoins in illegal commerce and money laundering. In response to the growing use of the coins and their expanding influence in the digital marketplace, lawmakers wanted to know how Homeland Security and the FBI planned to deal with their use. And those concerns about the criminal applications of the Bitcoin played a role in the Silk Road investigation.

Whatever the FBI chooses to do with its new stash of Bitcoins, the Silk Road affair marks another milestone in the digital currency’s journey toward becoming a viable rival to traditional money. Bitcoins are apparently here to stay, and the role they continue to play in the digital marketplace –and the economy overall – makes them worth watching for investors taking Jason Hartman’s advice to stay informed and educated. 

Lists of retirement “myths” – erroneous beliefs about planning for retirement – pop up fairly regularly in financial news. Though each list offers a different number of myths to worry about – five, seven or even ten or more – the goal is the same: to increase awareness about the pitfalls of poor– or nonexistent – retirement planning because of assumptions that just may not turn out to be true: faith in pension and retirement plans, home equity and personal circumstances.

Many people nearing retirement age responding to the surveys on which the myth lists are based said they expected to work well beyond retirement. Although the majority of these individuals were working in fields where retirement isn’t mandated – as business owners, academics and lawyers, among others – unforeseen circumstances can derail that plan. An unexpected health problem or family situation, changes in economic conditions, or a change of heart about the whole thing can mean a need to fall back on retirement income.

Others, nearing retirement with limited savings, think it’s just to late to try to create a better income stream. These folks may be relying on an employer’s pension plan or Social Security to fill in the gaps. Some may have a retirement savings account without much in it. But financial experts say it’s never too late to start planning. And for those who can manage it, investing in real estate or becoming an entrepreneur may provide a solution to creating income in retirement.

A third group tends to rely on home equity as a backup source of retirement money. But, as the ups and downs of the housing market over the last few years have shown, that’s an income source that may not be reliable. If housing values fall, or sales go flat in the local market, homeowners needing to sell quickly may not end up with as much as they’d hoped on the deal.

There are other myths about retirement savings, too. People put faith in family members to help out, or they may simply miscalculate the amount needed for a comfortable and prosperous retirement. Anticipating personal needs, as well as the volatile nature of the economy, may be difficult. But in today’s world, people can expect to live a third of their lives – or maybe more – post-retirement. That’s a long time – longer than many realize.

Of course, these myths about retirement are not really myths. There’s truth in them all – and for many people, these scenarios work out fine. Pension plans are generous, homes sell for he right amount, and jobs last well beyond retirement. But the one certainty is change. . For first responders and heroic investors of all kinds who are contemplating retirement – at whatever age — the key is to take active steps to ensure a secure income stream. Investing in income property, asJason Hartman advises, can lay the foundation for that kind of income stream, allowing retirees to enjoy life without financial constraints.

Even though the stock market has recovered a bit of late, middle class investors have shown a reluctance to re-enter Wall Street’s less-than-loving embrace. Gone are those high-flying days when stocks, bonds, and mutual funds were considered the keys to a financially solvent retirement, replaced with, what exactly? Nothing yet, it seems, but we at Heroic Investing think you’d be smart to consider a move to income properties. Here’s why.

Middle class average income has run into a brick wall. Education and health costs relative to income has reached the stratosphere, and to a larger extent than we can recall in recent memory, the middle class has decided to ditch the idea of upward mobility, saving, and in a growing number of cases, working at all.

One area where we’re really noticing a behavior change is in equity ownership (that’s stocks in case you were wondering). As recently as 2002, 67% of American households owned a piece of at least one publicly traded company. By 2011 that number had declined to 54%, with the largest decline seen in the middle class.

While columnists hither and yon continue to devote millions of pixels to a thorough chewing of the issue, at Heroic Investing we are less concerned with why this massive chunk of society has decided to disengage from many of the traditional economic processes and eschew the stock market, than with stepping in with an alternative. Make no mistake, the stock market is a bad deal for the average investor. Administrative and transaction feed, as well as a chronic case of inflation combine to drag whatever profit might have been realized down to anemic levels.

The truth is we haven’t invested in the stock market in a very long time. Our founder, Jason Hartman, realized during his college years the near miraculous profit potential of income property investing when compared to the rigged game of equities. If the ideas of creating wealth and reaching the land of financial independence hold any interest to you, the only real choice left is real estate.

Gold is shiny and a better investment than a fistful of stock certificates, but nothing holds a candle to history’s best investment – the land beneath your feet. While no one can rebut the fact that the American middle class is fleeing Wall Street and traditional economic participation in droves, who can blame them? Under the embarrassing leadership of recent politicians and bureaucrats, our country is a basket of rotting fruit.