OFAC Sanctions List Export Scraper

Export and normalize public OFAC sanctions lists for AML, KYC, procurement, compliance, and risk monitoring workflows.

The actor downloads official OFAC CSV export files, joins primary records with aliases and addresses, and outputs clean dataset rows that are ready for screening, enrichment, or change-detection pipelines.

What does OFAC Sanctions List Export Scraper do?

This actor fetches public OFAC sanctions data from the official OFAC sanctions list service.

It currently supports:

• Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) primary export
• SDN aliases / alternate names
• SDN address records
• Consolidated non-SDN primary export
• Consolidated non-SDN aliases
• Consolidated non-SDN address records

Each output item represents one sanctions entity.

Aliases and addresses are attached to the entity as nested arrays.

The output also includes source URLs, source digest headers, Last-Modified metadata, and the scrape timestamp.

Who is it for?

This actor is for compliance, AML, legal, procurement, and data teams.

Typical users include:

• Fintech compliance teams screening customers and counterparties
• KYC vendors enriching onboarding workflows
• Procurement teams monitoring vendors and beneficial owners
• Legal teams checking entities against sanctions programs
• Data engineers building sanctions snapshots in warehouses
• Risk teams comparing current and previous list exports

Use this actor when you need repeatable OFAC export data in Apify datasets, APIs, or integrations.

Why use it?

OFAC provides public export files, but teams still need structured rows that are easy to automate.

This actor helps by:

• Downloading the relevant public files in one run
• Normalizing CSV rows into JSON records
• Joining aliases and addresses to the primary entity
• Preserving official OFAC UID values
• Capturing source metadata for audit trails
• Supporting small smoke tests and larger exports

Data you can extract

Field	Description
uid	Official OFAC UID from the source file
list	sdn or consolidated
sourceListName	Human-readable list name
name	Entity, vessel, organization, or individual name
entityType	OFAC entity type when provided
programs	Sanctions programs or list codes
remarks	OFAC remarks such as DOB, POB, or notes
aliases	Alternate names / aka records
addresses	Address records with country and full address
sourceDigest	Digest header from the source export response
sourceLastModified	Last-Modified header from the source export response
scrapedAt	Actor run timestamp

How much does it cost to export OFAC sanctions lists?

The actor uses pay-per-event pricing.

There is a small start charge per run and a tiered per-entity charge for records emitted to the dataset.

The exact live prices are shown on the Apify Store pricing tab.

For testing, keep maxItems low.

For full snapshots, increase maxItems high enough to include all selected lists.

Input configuration

The input has only a few practical options.

{
  "lists": ["sdn"],
  "maxItems": 200,
  "includeAliases": true,
  "includeAddresses": true,
  "includeRawFields": false
}

lists

Choose one or both supported export groups.

• sdn downloads SDN primary, alias, and address CSV files.
• consolidated downloads consolidated non-SDN primary, alias, and address CSV files.

maxItems

Limits the total number of entity rows emitted across all selected lists.

Use a small value for quick tests.

Use a large value for complete exports.

includeAliases

When enabled, each entity includes an aliases array.

Each alias contains an alias ID, alias type, name, and optional remarks.

includeAddresses

When enabled, each entity includes an addresses array.

Each address contains the OFAC address ID, address lines, country, and normalized full address.

includeRawFields

Enable this only for audits or troubleshooting.

It adds the raw primary CSV fields as rawFields.

Output example

{
  "uid": "306",
  "list": "sdn",
  "sourceListName": "Specially Designated Nationals (SDN)",
  "name": "BANCO NACIONAL DE CUBA",
  "entityType": null,
  "programs": ["CUBA"],
  "remarks": "a.k.a. 'BNC'.",
  "aliasCount": 1,
  "addressCount": 3,
  "sourceUrls": ["https://sanctionslistservice.ofac.treas.gov/api/PublicationPreview/exports/SDN.CSV"],
  "scrapedAt": "2026-06-29T00:00:00.000Z"
}

How to run

1. Open the actor on Apify.
2. Choose SDN, consolidated, or both lists.
3. Set maxItems.
4. Keep aliases and addresses enabled for screening use cases.
5. Start the run.
6. Export the dataset as JSON, CSV, Excel, or via API.

Practical workflows

Common workflows include:

• Daily sanctions snapshot export
• Vendor list screening enrichment
• Customer onboarding watchlist checks
• Internal warehouse refreshes
• OFAC change monitoring using sourceDigest
• Legal review exports for specific programs

Integrations

You can send the dataset to:

• Google Sheets
• BigQuery
• Snowflake
• S3-compatible storage
• Zapier or Make
• Internal compliance APIs
• Apify webhooks

For change monitoring, store the previous run's digest and compare it with the current run.

API usage with Node.js

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('automation-lab/ofac-sanctions-list-export-scraper').call({
  lists: ['sdn', 'consolidated'],
  maxItems: 1000,
  includeAliases: true,
  includeAddresses: true
});

console.log(run.defaultDatasetId);

API usage with Python

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient('YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN')
run = client.actor('automation-lab/ofac-sanctions-list-export-scraper').call(run_input={
    'lists': ['sdn'],
    'maxItems': 500,
    'includeAliases': True,
    'includeAddresses': True,
})
print(run['defaultDatasetId'])

API usage with cURL

curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/automation-lab~ofac-sanctions-list-export-scraper/runs?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"lists":["sdn"],"maxItems":200,"includeAliases":true,"includeAddresses":true}'

MCP usage

Use Apify MCP when you want Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or another MCP client to run this actor.

Add the actor tool in Claude Code:

$claude mcp add apify-ofac-sanctions https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=automation-lab/ofac-sanctions-list-export-scraper

Claude Desktop JSON configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify-ofac-sanctions": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=automation-lab/ofac-sanctions-list-export-scraper"
    }
  }
}

MCP server URL:

https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=automation-lab/ofac-sanctions-list-export-scraper

Example prompts:

• "Export the first 500 OFAC SDN entities with aliases."
• "Run the OFAC sanctions export and summarize how many entities have addresses."
• "Fetch consolidated non-SDN records and prepare a CSV for compliance review."

Data freshness

The actor downloads files from OFAC during each run.

Freshness therefore depends on the official OFAC export endpoint and its current published files.

Use sourceLastModified and sourceDigest to record which source version was used.

Limitations

The actor normalizes OFAC export files; it does not make legal decisions.

It does not replace a sanctions screening engine.

It does not score matches, resolve identities, or adjudicate false positives.

OFAC source formatting can change, so downstream workflows should monitor schema changes.

Troubleshooting

If a run returns fewer records than expected, check maxItems first.

If aliases or addresses are missing, confirm includeAliases and includeAddresses are enabled.

If source metadata changes, compare sourceDigest and sourceLastModified across runs.

If OFAC is temporarily unavailable, retry later; no proxy or browser is normally required.

Legality

OFAC sanctions export files are public government data, but sanctions compliance is a regulated workflow.

Use the actor as a data collection and normalization tool, not as legal advice or screening adjudication.

Is it legal to scrape OFAC sanctions data?

OFAC sanctions export files are public government data.

You are responsible for using the data lawfully and for complying with sanctions, privacy, procurement, and record-retention rules that apply to your organization.

Consult qualified counsel for legal interpretations.

Related scrapers

Related Automation Labs actors for compliance and government-data workflows:

• https://apify.com/automation-lab/website-contact-finder
• https://apify.com/automation-lab/google-search-results-scraper

More sanctions, procurement, and compliance actors may be added as the portfolio grows.

FAQ

Can this actor export the full OFAC SDN list?

Yes. Set maxItems high enough to include all entities.

Does it include aliases?

Yes. Keep includeAliases enabled.

Does it include addresses?

Yes. Keep includeAddresses enabled.

Does it use a browser?

No. It downloads official CSV files over HTTP.

Does it use proxies?

No proxy is required for the official public OFAC export endpoint.

Can I use this for screening?

You can use it as a data input for screening workflows, but matching and legal adjudication must be handled by your compliance process.

How do I detect list changes?

Compare sourceDigest, sourceLastModified, dataset counts, or the records themselves across scheduled runs.

What happens if OFAC changes the CSV format?

The actor may need an update. Keep an eye on logs and output fields if OFAC announces format changes.

Support

If the actor fails or the output does not match the current OFAC export files, open an Apify issue with the run ID and your input.

Include whether you selected SDN, consolidated, or both lists.

Changelog

Initial version supports official OFAC SDN and consolidated non-SDN CSV exports with aliases, addresses, programs, and source metadata.