TIME magazine named Tejasvi Manoj, a 17-year-old Indian American girl, “Kid of the Year 2025” for her work protecting seniors from cybercrime. In 2024, the teenager created a website, Shield Seniors, to educate older adults about online scams and has been raising awareness about malicious actors targeting individuals over the age of 60.

According to TIME, Tejasvi decided to learn more about elder fraud after her own grandfather nearly fell victim to a scam in February last year. She was with her father when the 85-year-old man called several times to ask about an urgent email he received, right before transferring $2,000 to scammers to deal with Tejasvi’s uncle’s “emergency.”

Fortunately, her grandfather reached out before sending the money. But the close call left Tejasvi deeply concerned and motivated to research these types of scams. She discovered FBI warnings about elder fraud and learned how widespread the problem is.

“Tejasvi was surprised that there was such a lack of awareness among her grandparents,” said the teenager’s mother, Aishwarya Manoj, in an interview with TIME. “It was like, Why did you not know? That’s when she went on with her research and found out that it was not an isolated case with her grandparents, but a much larger problem.”

In 2023, the FBI warned about the “Phantom Hacker” targeting the senior community, and in 2024, the Internet Crime Complaint Center received 860,000 reports of scams with potential losses above $16 billion.

Tejasvi, who began coding and taking cybersecurity classes in eighth grade, was determined to provide support for the elder community. At age 16, with help from her parents — both IT professionals — she built and launched Shield Seniors, a website designed to promote scam literacy among adults over 60. While the site is currently in private preview mode as she awaits funding, Tejasvi has continued spreading awareness.

Her work has already gained recognition. In the 2024 Congressional App Challenge, Tejasvi earned an honorable mention, and she spoke at the 2025 TEDx talk in Texas about building digital bridges for all demographics.

She also volunteers with several organizations, including Vibha, teaching English and math to Bhutanese refugees, TangoTab, packing meals for families facing food insecurity, and the North Texas Food Bank Young Advocates Council.

“I started volunteering in sixth grade,” she told TIME. “I think it’s really important; if you’re lucky yourself, you want to make sure other people feel loved and lucky too.”