* Some (1 syllable)
* Peo-ple (2 syllables)
* Are (1 syllable)
* Sca-red (2 syllables)
* Of (1 syllable)
* Them (1 syllable)
Adding the syllables together, we get 1 + 2 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 8 syllables.
Therefore, the sentence "Some people are scared of them" has 8 syllables, not 7.