Cascade County Extension Service

1807 Third St. NW - Great Falls MT 59404

406-454-6980

Extension Agent:

Jona McNamee

Click here to go to Nutrition Education

Welcome to new Extension Agent Jona McNamee (pronounced Yo-na Mac-Na-me).  Jona started on September 18 and is already hard at work. Her background is in familiy and consumer science and education. She spent many years teaching both in private and public schools in Great Falls and she was the Schools Department Superintendent at Montana State Fair for 19 years. Jona is excited to be here and to serve the people of Cascade County.

ESTATE PLANNING - Jan. 17, 2007

Did you know that if you pass away without writing a will, Montana contract law and statutes determine who recieves your property?  Do you know what “right of representation,” means in your will? Do you know how to avoid probate on checking, savings and stock accounts?  What is the situation with “death taxes?”  There will be two sessions: 12-2 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. at the Charlie Russell Conference Room (bottom of the stairs/across from the library). Please call 454-6980 to register for one of the sessions. Class size is limited to 40 per session.

Dr. Marsha Goetting, MSU Extension Family Economics Specialist, will discuss these issues and respond to questions relative to estate planning.  MSU Extension Cascade County and RBC Dain Rauscher are sponsoring this meeting.

Get Ready for Holiday Fun

Handling Changing Times - a New MontGuide from Sandy Bailey, MSU Family and Human Devleopment Specialist, has the following hints to managing stress.

Stop in the Extension office for the complete guide and for more information!

It’s Computer Phishing season, don’t get hooked!

Tips to Avoid On-Line Fraud

(Source: Herb Weisman, MSNBC.com, Business Consumer News)

A Phisher is an on-line crook who wants to steal your money or your identity! According to Gartner, Inc. (a research group), phishers will steal more than $2.8 Billion from U.S. Consumers!!  The average victim will lose $1,244 - up from the average loss of $257 in the year 2005.

What to Look for:

Bogus e-mails wanting you to confirm winning a prize or ordering an expensive  item.  The Phisher wants you to click on the links which take you to their pages and includes text saying if you want to cancel the order or the prize just give us the following information - Credit Card number and 3-digit security pin, Debit card account or Social Security Number. Victims get scammed because phishers scare them! 

Protect Yourself!

Never click on an email link to confirm an order you did not make or for a “prize” an unknown email says you may have won.  Phishers especially target people with eBay or Pay Pal accounts!  If the business is unfamiliar delete the email immediately. Remember that Phishers often have websites that look very much like the real business they are scamming - it is hard to tell the difference.

Real Order Confirmations NEVER take you to a website that asks for your credit card or other personal information.  If you think you are at risk, call the legitimate business by phone to check any orders. Remember most businesses have toll free phone numbers.

Other Information You Should Know:

Donating on-line to Charities - to make sure the charity is real - go to www.guidestar.org - it has a directory of all the legitimate non-profit charities. Remember bogus web sites will ask you for credit card information

Delete greeting cards from people you do not know! As the unknown greeting card downloads onto your computer, it could be loading malicious software that tracks everything you do on your computer and sends it to the Phisher.

Delete your cookies on your Internet browser frequently. These often have spyware that look at what you do. 

Delete all attachments/emails from people you do not know.

Be on guard! Think before you act, guard your private information (credit cards, debit cards, bank information, social security number), and question unfamiliar information in your email Inbox.

“Phishing” is a form of Internet fraud that aims to steal valuable information such as credit cards, social security numbers, user IDs and passwords. A fake website is created that is similar to that of a legitimate organisation, typically a financial institution such as a bank or insurance company. An email is sent requesting that the recipient access the fake website (which will usually be a replica of a trusted site) and enter their personal details, including security access codes.Since hackers have a tendancy of replacing "f" with "ph", the term phishing was derived.

Go to the Nutrition page for information on Turkey, eggs and soup.

For information on MSU Publications/MontGuides - click the link to open. Many of these items are FREE or available for a small fee.

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