Every year, seniors in Utah lose $92 million to financial exploitation, according to figures from the state’s Department of Health and Human Services.
Across the U.S., FBI internet crime data show elders were bilked out of $16.6 billion by fraudsters in 2024 — a 33% increase from the previous year. The reported losses are likely higher, says the FBI, because “older Americans are less likely to report fraud because they either don’t know how to report it, are embarrassed, or don’t know they’ve been scammed.”
Fraudsters know seniors may have savings, can be trusting, a little naive, and, in some cases, even be in the throes of dementia. That's the case in the new Utah film called “Sweepstakes.” The plot was inspired by real-life events.
“My stepmother was scammed for a period of about 10 years, and she was suffering from dementia, but was undiagnosed,” said writer, director and producer Stephen Williams, a Salt Lake Community College film instructor. “We had no idea what was going on. She was sending gobs and gobs of money away every week to sweepstakes scams.”
When his family found out and confronted his stepmother, she was irate and refused to stop sending money to the scammers, not knowing fact from fiction.
“We didn’t know what to do,” Williams said. “My father was beside himself.”
His stepmother passed away at age 96 in 2022, but not before being defrauded of thousands of dollars.
The film that emerged started as a two-part series, but Williams has now produced a feature film, garnering interest from the AARP Utah and the FBI. Williams said representatives attended screenings and held panel discussions — shedding light on scammers who prey on the elderly, become friends with them and pretend to have their best interests at heart.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Pamela McCall: How does your film bring the sad reality of elder scams to life?
Stephen Williams: The main character, 88-year-old Joanne, played by Anne Culimore Decker, is sliding into dementia. She’s enraged because she thinks her adult children are trying to control her when they start to realize her money’s disappearing. In turn, the scammer convinces her that he’s the only one that can be trusted.
PM: Joanne’s daughter discovers $9,000 missing from her mother’s account. Her brother tries to give his mom the benefit of the doubt. Is it hard for people to believe this can happen in their own family?
SW: Who wants to find out that a parent is being scammed, or that they have dementia? People might initially fight against it and write their loved one’s behavior off as normal memory decline that comes with aging. Meanwhile, the unscrupulous scammer is getting her to send him money. In the film, it totals $80,000.
PM: What can be done to protect against this kind of fraud?
SW: No matter who they think is calling, personal information shouldn’t ever be given out over the phone. Scammers can use caller ID to make it look like it’s someone the elderly person knows. Artificial Intelligence is particularly terrifying. A snippet of a family member’s voice and image can be gleaned from the internet and manipulated through AI to ask for money. It could be a Zoom call saying, “Grandma, I’m in prison in Ireland and need $15,000 right now,” when in fact, it’s a scammer.
PM: What will people take away from your film when it comes to elder scams?
SW: The film really is about reconciliation of the family, and ultimately, that's what matters. The money might be gone, but eyes are opened. The brother and sister judged their mother pretty harshly initially, but once they fully understood what happened, their hearts open, and there’s compassion.
