Help in your language

Here is the short version. Almost every US federal fraud resource is in English and Spanish only. For the other languages on this site, help does not come from a separate phone number. It comes from an interpreter on the main number.

That's a real service, and it's free. Most people don't know to ask for it. This page is mostly about how to ask.

The one thing to know

When someone answers, say your language in English. Then stop talking.

"Urdu, please." "Farsi, please." "Amharic, please."

Usually you'll be put on hold while an interpreter joins. Then you can speak in your own language.

You don't need to explain or say sorry. You don't need to try English first. Federal helplines are built for this. It isn't the same everywhere, though. The wait varies. A few private numbers handle it less well than the government ones. And one agency uses a different number. The IRS takes Spanish on its main line, 800-829-1040. For every other language, call 833-553-9895.

Each fridge sheet on this site has that phrase in the reader's own language. You can read it off the fridge during the call.

The helplines

National Elder Fraud Hotline, 833-372-8311

Run by the Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime. It's for anyone 60 or older who has been targeted by fraud. Case managers help you report it. They also connect you to other services.

Open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern time. Help is offered in English, Spanish, and other languages.

Free. You can ask to remain anonymous.

AARP Fraud Watch Helpline, 877-908-3360

Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern. Free for anyone, member or not. You can get an interpreter. They also run free support groups for people who have lost money.

Use this one to talk something through before you decide if anything is wrong. That's what it's for.

Eldercare Locator, 800-677-1116

It connects you to aging services in your own county. That is where help in your language really lives. You can get an interpreter. You can call it or send it a text message, on the same number.

This is the most useful number on this page for help in your language. Local Area Agencies on Aging often have staff who speak two languages. Many also have contracts with local groups that serve your language.

NAPCA Multilingual Helpline, for Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, and Vietnamese speakers

The National Asian Pacific Center on Aging runs it. Call in Mandarin (800-683-7427), Cantonese (800-582-4218), Korean (800-582-4259), or Vietnamese (800-582-4336). There is also an English line (800-336-2722). Staff walk you through Medicare, Social Security, and other benefits in your language. It is not a fraud hotline. But these are the people who can tell you if a call about your benefits was real.

It is the one specific group named on this page. That makes it an exception to the rule below. It is national, not local. It has run without a break since 2004. Its numbers come from napca.org. If they ever change, tell us.

Reporting online

The FTC's Spanish site is at ftc.gov/es. It is a full translation, not a summary.

If you can't fill out an online form in English, call 833-372-8311. Ask for an interpreter. The case manager will file the report with you over the phone. This is a normal thing to ask for.

Language by language

These are the 45 languages this site is drafted in. The middle column shows what the FTC (ftc.gov/languages) and Social Security (ssa.gov/multilanguage) published as of 2026.

"Limited" means we found no FTC or SSA materials made for that language as of this check. Assume nothing is published. Ask for an interpreter, and you'll be fine. This can change. If you find federal materials in a language marked Limited here, tell us and we'll fix it.

Other numbers worth having

All of these offer an interpreter. Ask the same way.

Where local help actually comes from

National hotlines give you an interpreter. Local groups give you someone who already knows the situation. That includes the scams aimed at your community. National material rarely covers those.

The kinds of places worth asking, in roughly this order:

1. Your county's Area Agency on Aging. Call 800-677-1116 to find it.
2. Mutual assistance associations and refugee resettlement agencies. Most large cities have one for each major community. They usually help with benefits and fraud too.
3. Your place of worship. It is often the best single place to share this material.
4. Community health centers with staff who speak your language.
5. Ethnic media. A community radio show or newspaper will often run this material for free.

We don't list specific local groups here, on purpose. The NAPCA helpline above is the one exception. It is national, not tied to one city. Local groups close and move. A wrong phone number is worse than none. Your Area Agency on Aging will know the current ones for your county.

Help us make this better

Do you know a real, current resource for a language? It might be a helpline, a group, or a caseworker who speaks two languages and takes these calls. Tell us and we'll add it.

Or maybe you called one of these numbers and asked for an interpreter, and it did not work. We want to know that even more. A promise that fails when someone needs it is worse than no promise.

translations [at] trustbutverifyproject [dot] org

You can do this

Asking for an interpreter is not a burden on anyone. It is not a favor to you. It is a service that exists and is already paid for. You have every right to use it.

Say two words in English: your language, then "please." The rest of the call happens in the language you think in. That's all it takes.