Texas teen uses computer science to fight scammers
Plano, Texas — In many ways, Tejasvi Manoj of Plano, Texas, is an average 17-year-old.
“You’ve got to balance, like, all of your classes, and then you have college applications as well,” Manoj told CBS News.
But she’s spending much of her senior year of high school with a different type of senior, visiting older adult community centers, where she teaches them how to avoid being financially scammed.
Her calling started last year when Manoj’s grandfather was the target of a scam effort in which he received a text message from someone pretending to be a family member, claiming an emergency and asking him to wire $2,000 to a bank account.
Fortunately, Manoj’s grandfather and grandmother contacted family members and discovered the scam before wiring the money.
But the event was alarming to Manoj, who began researching and subsequently building a website and app called Shield Seniors, which shows what online scams look like and how to report them.
In July, she did a TEDx talk. And this week, she made the cover of Time magazine as its “Kid of the Year.”
“So I found out 12 hours before the article released,” Manoj said. “I was in so much shock. It was the greatest surprise of my life, honestly.”
Manoj says her research shows scammers are increasingly using artificial intelligence.
“There are so many people who are using AI to make scams seem more real,” Manoj said.
These frauds are becoming increasingly common. According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, people 60 and over who reported scams in 2024 lost a total of $4.8 billion — double the losses from just five years ago.
“Particularly when you’re older, you feel more vulnerable,” one woman who attended one of Manoj’s classes explained. “I think too, as you get older, you become less, computer savvy.”
Her app, which utilizes AI, allows users to detect potential scam efforts.
“So here I can add, like, a text message,” Manoj explains as she shows her website. “And then I can press ‘please identify whether this is a threat.’ So it’s saying that this request seems suspicious.”
Manoj has taken some computer science courses, but she said she mostly learned everything about coding and AI on YouTube.
“Obviously, my mission is to make sure older adults are aware of cybersecurity,” Manoj said. “And they shouldn’t be embarrassed about asking for help.”
She says her long-term plans involve continuing her work on Shield Seniors, but also finding ways to use “tech for social good.”
Manoj is still looking for funding for her app. She hopes landing the cover of Time will allow her to launch Shield Seniors by the end of the year.
