Digital Defender

One day in 2024, Tejasvi Manoj’s grandfather got an email from someone pretending to be a relative, asking for $2,000. It seemed to be an emergency, so he was ready to send the money. Luckily, he first called Tejasvi’s dad, who asked him to wait. They called the relative to see if the email was real. The response was that he never asked for money.

Tejasvi was angry and disgusted with the fake emailer. She began researching this and learned that, according to the Federal Trade Commission, online scams accounted for a potential $5 billion in losses for people over 60 in 2024. And that figure does not include losses that victims were too embarrassed to report. “Tejasvi was surprised that there was such a lack of awareness among her grandparents,” says her mom, Aishwarya Manoj. “She went on with her research and found out that it was… a much larger problem.”

This was a problem for older Americans, so she stepped up and launched a working version of a website called Shield Seniors. It is designed to educate people 60 and older about online scams at 17.

Shield Seniors analyzes the text or request and checks for fraud that could lead to getting reported. Tejasvi was recognized for her work with an honorable ­mention in the 2024 Congressional App Challenge. She gave a 2025 TEDx talk in Plano, Texas, about the need to build “digital bridges” to all people. She also teaches cybercrime seminars at assisted living facilities.