In many ways, Tejasvi Manoj of Plano, Texas, is your typical 17-year-old.
“You’ve got to balance, like, all of your classes, and then you have college applications as well,” Manoj tells CBS News.
But she spends much of her senior year of high school visiting older adult community centers and teaching them how to avoid money scams.
Her calling began last year, when Manoj’s grandfather became the victim of a scam in which he received a text message from someone posing as a family member, citing an emergency and requesting that he wire $2,000 to a bank account.
Fortunately, Manoj’s grandfather and grandmother alerted family members to the scam before transmitting the money.
However, the occurrence alarmed Manoj, who began investigating and eventually developing a website and app called Shield Seniors, which demonstrates what internet frauds look like and how to report them.
In July, she delivered a TEDx lecture. This week, she graced the cover of Time magazine as their “Kid of the Year.”
“So I found out 12 hours before the article released,” Manoj joked. “I was so shocked. It was the biggest surprise of my life, honestly.”
Manoj claims her research demonstrates that scammers are increasingly exploiting artificial intelligence.
“There are so many people who are using AI to make scams seem more real,” Manoj told the crowd.
These forgeries are getting more widespread. According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, persons aged 60 and up who reported scams lost a total of $4.8 billion in 2024, more than doubling their losses from only five years before.
“Particularly when you’re older, you feel more vulnerable,” explained one of Manoj’s students. “I think too, as you get older, you become less, computer savvy.”
Her AI-powered tool helps consumers detect potential scams.
“So here I can add, like, a text message,” Manoj explains while displaying her webpage. “And then I can select ‘Please identify whether this is a threat.'” So it’s saying, “This request appears suspicious.”
Manoj has taken some computer science courses, but she claims she learnt everything about coding and AI via YouTube.
“Obviously, my mission is to make sure older adults are aware of cybersecurity,” Manoj told me. “And they shouldn’t be embarrassed about asking for help.”
She says her long-term ambitions include continuing her work with Shield Seniors while also exploring ways to use “tech for social good.”
Manoj is still looking for money for her application. She believes that landing the cover of Time will allow her to debut Shield Seniors before the end of the year.
