Mackay Seniors Expo helps elderly Aussies avoid scams, stay healthy

Frank Yeates is just one older Australian dealing with a scourge of scammers and swindlers targeting people over 65 years old. Find out how Frank got help to fight the fraudsters.

Frank Yeates has been playing guitar for “50-odd years”, but dealing with phone and internet scams was something he had less experience with.

He found help at Mackay Seniors Expo, when he got a small but effective booklet on scammers and how to fight back against them.

Held at Mackay Showgrounds, the Expo hosts a variety of stalls helping elderly Australians like Mr Yeates adapt to their changing lives.

Frank Yeates, 74, at Mackay Seniors Expo on October 11, 2022. Photo: Zoe Devenport

“I’m always worried because the older people, we’re the ones being targeted heavily”, Mr Yeates said.

“We’re trusting.”

Scam Watch booklet at Mackay Seniors Expo on October 11, 2022. Photo: Zoe Devenport

Just yesterday Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman released a statement warning those “over the age of 65 have reported almost four times the amount of losses to scammers”.

Mr Yeates said he had even given up having a home phone “because we couldn’t trust anything”.

But he felt more capable of dealing with the scourge thanks to The Little Black Book of Scams, available at the Office of Fair Trading’s stall.

Hearing Australia’s Rachel Kim and Shane Lamperd at Mackay Seniors Expo on October 11, 2022. Photo: Zoe Devenport

“The Scam Watch book was very, very handy,” he said.

“Telling you all the scams to watch out for (it’s) a very, very handy book.”

Gloria Bombardieri, 74, and Angie Haywall, 65, at Mackay Seniors Expo on October 11, 2022. Photo: Zoe Devenport

More than just booklets, the Expo had free hearing tests that helped Mr Yeates realise he needed hearing aids.

Alongside the Hearing Australia test bus, the Expo hosts a range of stalls with health, lifestyle, and community options for people in later life.

Kathleen McGill-Larsen at Mackay Seniors Expo on October 11, 2022. Photo: Zoe Devenport

Gloria Bombardieri and Angie Haywall, members of the Mackay Fibre Arts Association in Walkerston, promoted their craft with the assurance that “if you make it yourself, 20 years down the track it still looks as good as when you first made it”.

There were also stalls for what comes after life, as Mackay Funerals director Kathleen McGill-Larsen said funeral homes came “for people to see what’s out there for them”.

Andrew Payne, 77, and Bruce Miller, 63, at Mackay Seniors Expo on October 11, 2022. Photo: Zoe Devenport

From the Iona West Men’s Shed in West Mackay, Andrew Payne and Bruce Miller said they were at the Expo to promote the Shed, its woodworking products, and “the companionship we offer to older men or any men in the community”.

Monique Pershouse, 71, Margaret Egerton, 74, and Dawn Field, 73, at Mackay Seniors Expo on October 11, 2022. Photo: Zoe Devenport

Dawn Field, Margaret Egerton and Monique Pershouse were all in uniform to represent the Mackay City Bowls Club.

Ms Egerton said, for some people, being in the club “just kept them alive, because it made them get up in the morning and go out”.