# Sanctions Screening — OFAC & UN Watchlists (`alaudinburki/sanctions-watchlist-screening`) Actor

Screen people and companies against official OFAC SDN, OFAC Consolidated and UN Security Council sanctions lists. Alias-aware fuzzy matching with a 0-100 score and risk level, so spelling variants are caught. Free official sources - no API key, no login.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/alaudinburki/sanctions-watchlist-screening.md
- **Developed by:** [alaudin burki](https://apify.com/alaudinburki) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Sanctions Screening — OFAC & UN Watchlists

Screen people and companies against the **official OFAC SDN, OFAC Consolidated and UN Security Council**
sanctions lists. Alias-aware fuzzy matching with a **0–100 score and risk level**, so spelling variants
like `AL-QA'IDA` / `al qaida` and `Ivan Ivanov` / `IVANOV, Ivan Ivanovich` are actually caught.

Free official government sources. **No API key, no login, no anti-bot.**

### Why this one

The lists are free — the friction was never access. It's that OFAC ships a **headerless, fixed-column
CSV** with aliases in a *separate* file, the UN ships a **bespoke XML**, and screening a name needs
**alias-aware fuzzy matching**, not string equality. This actor does all three and hands you a decision.

### Two modes

- **Screen** — give it names → get candidate matches with a score, risk level, sanctions programs and source.
- **Dump** — leave `names` empty → get the consolidated, deduped list itself as a dataset.

### What you get

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `query` | The name you screened |
| **`matchScore`** | 0–100 similarity (100 = exact after normalisation) |
| **`riskLevel`** | `confirmed_match` · `high` · `medium` · `low` · `no_match` |
| `matchType` | `exact` · `exact_alias` · `name` · `alias` |
| `matchedName` / `matchedOn` | The listed entry, and the exact string that matched |
| `entityType` | individual · entity · vessel |
| `programs` | Sanctions programs (e.g. `UKRAINE-EO13662`, `Al-Qaida`) |
| `aliases` | Known aliases for the listed entry |
| `title` / `remarks` | Designation and notes (DOB, passport, addresses) |
| `sourceLabel` / `uid` | Which official list, and its record ID |
| `status` | `match` or `clear` (clean names are returned too, not dropped) |

### How to use it

1. Paste the names to screen (one per line is fine).
2. Pick the lists — **OFAC SDN** alone is the common default; add **UN Consolidated** for broader coverage.
3. Tune **minimum match score**: `75` balanced · `60` catches more spelling variants (more false positives) · `90` near-exact only.

### Input

```json
{
  "names": ["Ivan Ivanov", "Acme Trading LLC"],
  "sources": ["ofac_sdn", "un_consolidated"],
  "minMatchScore": 75,
  "maxMatchesPerName": 10
}
```

### Sample output

```json
[
  {
    "query": "Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov",
    "matchScore": 100,
    "riskLevel": "confirmed_match",
    "matchType": "exact",
    "matchedName": "IVANOV, Ivan Ivanovich",
    "matchedOn": "IVANOV, Ivan Ivanovich",
    "entityType": "individual",
    "programs": "UKRAINE-EO13662",
    "aliases": "IVANOV, Vanya | I. Ivanov",
    "remarks": "DOB 01 Jan 1970; nationality Russia",
    "sourceLabel": "OFAC SDN (US Treasury)",
    "uid": "12345",
    "status": "match"
  },
  {
    "query": "Acme Trading LLC",
    "matchScore": 0,
    "riskLevel": "no_match",
    "matchedName": null,
    "status": "clear"
  }
]
```

### Typical uses

- **KYC / onboarding checks** — screen a customer or supplier list before you transact.
- **Continuous monitoring** — schedule it over your customer book; lists change and yesterday's clear name may be listed today.
- **Vendor & counterparty due diligence** — batch-screen a procurement list.
- **Building a compliance dataset** — dump mode gives you the consolidated list to load into your own system.

### Pricing

**$2.00 / 1,000 screened names** (`$0.002` per result), plus a near-zero start fee. Clean names are
returned as `clear` rows so you have an auditable record of what was checked. Never charged beyond `maxItems`.

### ⚠️ Important — what this is and isn't

- This is **decision-support, not legal advice**, and not a certified compliance determination. A match
  is a **candidate for human review**, never an automatic conclusion.
- **Fuzzy matching cuts both ways:** a low threshold produces false positives; a high one can miss
  transliteration variants. Always have a human review hits before acting.
- Coverage is limited to the lists you select. It does **not** include every national list (e.g. EU, UK
  OFSI, Swiss SECO) — absence of a match is not proof a party is unsanctioned.
- Lists are fetched live at run time, so results reflect the sources as of that run. Record the run date.

### FAQ & limitations

- **Do I need an API key?** No. OFAC and the UN publish these files openly.
- **Are aliases included?** Yes — OFAC's separate `ALT.CSV` is fetched and attached, so alias hits are found.
- **Why did a clean name still return a row?** Deliberate: a `clear` row proves the name was screened.
- **How current is the data?** As current as the source files at run time; OFAC updates frequently.
- **Can I add more lists?** EU/UK lists aren't wired yet — the parser is source-agnostic, so they're a natural next addition.

### Related actors

- **Email Verifier** · **Website Contact Finder** — the rest of a counterparty-diligence stack.
- **SEC EDGAR Filings** — corporate filings and material events for the same entities.
- **GitHub Repo Scraper** · **npm Package Info** — supply-chain diligence on the technical side.

# Actor input Schema

## `names` (type: `array`):

People or companies to check. Leave EMPTY to download the full consolidated list instead of screening.

## `sources` (type: `array`):

Official sources to screen against.

## `minMatchScore` (type: `integer`):

How close a name must be to count as a hit. 75 is a balanced default; lower it to catch more spelling variants (and more false positives).

## `maxMatchesPerName` (type: `integer`):

Caps how many candidates are returned for each screened name.

## `useProxy` (type: `boolean`):

Route the list downloads through Apify Proxy. Rarely needed — the sources are public.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Hard limit, strictly enforced. You are never charged beyond this.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "names": [
    "Ivan Ivanov",
    "Acme Trading LLC"
  ],
  "sources": [
    "ofac_sdn",
    "un_consolidated"
  ],
  "minMatchScore": 75,
  "maxMatchesPerName": 10,
  "useProxy": false,
  "maxItems": 10000
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

Screening matches or the consolidated list.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "names": [
        "Ivan Ivanov",
        "Acme Trading LLC"
    ],
    "sources": [
        "ofac_sdn",
        "un_consolidated"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("alaudinburki/sanctions-watchlist-screening").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "names": [
        "Ivan Ivanov",
        "Acme Trading LLC",
    ],
    "sources": [
        "ofac_sdn",
        "un_consolidated",
    ],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("alaudinburki/sanctions-watchlist-screening").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "names": [
    "Ivan Ivanov",
    "Acme Trading LLC"
  ],
  "sources": [
    "ofac_sdn",
    "un_consolidated"
  ]
}' |
apify call alaudinburki/sanctions-watchlist-screening --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,alaudinburki/sanctions-watchlist-screening"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/6uGSOIYDb6Q7RIhH3/builds/yi9Sv3W7veaOBTOH7/openapi.json