# BaFin Warnings Scraper – Unauthorised Firms & KYC Screening (`fast_data_asap/bafin-investor-warnings`) Actor

Get BaFin investor warnings (unerlaubte Geschäfte, § 37 KWG), scam websites, identity-theft clones and BaFin sanctions as flat JSON. Screen company names or domains with a fuzzy match score for compliance, KYC and AML checks. Official bafin.de data, no API key.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/fast_data_asap/bafin-investor-warnings.md
- **Developed by:** [Fast Data](https://apify.com/fast_data_asap) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, Developer tools
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per event

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

## BaFin Warnings Scraper – Unauthorised Firms & KYC Screening

Get the **investor and consumer warnings of BaFin** (Germany's Federal Financial Supervisory Authority) as clean, flat JSON: unauthorised firms (*unerlaubte Geschäfte*, § 37 KWG), scam and clone websites, identity-theft warnings, fake job offers, plus BaFin **supervisory measures and sanctions** (fines, orders, licence revocations, winding-up orders). In **screen** mode you upload a list of company names or domains and get a **fuzzy match score** against the current warnings, ready for compliance, KYC, AML and merchant onboarding checks.

No API key, no login, no proxy. Data comes from BaFin's own public RSS feeds and news/warning pages on bafin.de.

### Who is it for?

- **Compliance, KYC / KYB and AML teams** that must check new clients, partners or payees against regulator warnings
- **Payment providers, banks, brokers and marketplaces** onboarding merchants or affiliates
- **Ad networks and domain registrars** filtering scam finance websites
- **Journalists, researchers and consumer protection** tracking new investment scams in Germany
- **AI agents and automations** (n8n, Make, Zapier, MCP) that need a simple "is this firm on a BaFin warning?" lookup

### Why this actor?

- **Focused on BaFin warnings and sanctions** (not the register of *licensed* institutions).
- **Screening built in**: names and domains are normalised (legal forms like GmbH, Ltd, AG removed, `(.)` obfuscation resolved, URLs reduced to domains) and scored 0–100. Exact domain hits score 100.
- **Flat, AI-friendly rows**: firm name, all named domains, other trade names, warning type, legal basis, date, BaFin URL.
- **Privacy-first**: only company and website data. If a warning names a natural person, that name is replaced with `[name redacted]` and `personNameRedacted` is set to `true`.
- **Polite and compliant**: reads only pages that BaFin's robots.txt allows (RSS feeds and public pages), no search-form scraping, no anti-bot circumvention.
- **Fast and cheap**: the default run finishes in about 10 seconds.

### Coverage – please read

BaFin publishes its warnings as news items. Without using the robots-disallowed search form, the publicly machine-readable sources are BaFin's RSS feeds (German and English, all news + measures) and the warning overview pages. Together they cover **the most recent weeks** (in our test: 60 warnings and measures, about 5 weeks back). This actor is therefore ideal for **daily or weekly monitoring** and for screening against **current** warnings. It is not a complete historical archive. Schedule it daily and store the results if you need a long history.

### Input

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `mode` | `list` (latest warnings) or `screen` (check names/domains) |
| `queries` | screen mode: company names, brand names or domains/URLs |
| `lastDays` | list mode: only warnings from the last N days (0 = all available) |
| `maxItems` | list mode: maximum rows |
| `keywords` | list mode: keep only warnings containing one of these words (e.g. `crypto`, `Festgeld`, `WhatsApp`) |
| `includeMeasures` | also return supervisory measures and sanctions (default on) |
| `preferredLanguage` | `en` or `de` when a warning exists in both languages |
| `fetchDetails` | open each warning page to extract all domains, trade names and the legal basis (default on) |
| `minScore` | screen mode: score from which a hit counts as `matched` (default 85) |
| `maxMatchesPerQuery` | screen mode: matches returned per name (default 3) |

List mode example:

```json
{ "mode": "list", "lastDays": 30, "maxItems": 20, "keywords": ["crypto", "identity"] }
```

Screen mode example:

```json
{
  "mode": "screen",
  "queries": ["landshypotek-bnk.com", "https://www.klever-beratung.de/jobs", "Marsh Securities Ltd", "Example Trading Ltd"],
  "minScore": 85
}
```

### Output

Real row from a test run (list mode):

```json
{
  "title": "landshypotek-bnk(.)com: Bafin warnt vor Website und weist auf mutmaßlichen Identitätsdiebstahl hin",
  "companyName": "landshypotek-bnk.com",
  "otherNames": ["Landshypotek Bank"],
  "domains": ["landshypotek-bnk.com"],
  "websites": ["https://landshypotek-bnk.com"],
  "warningType": "identity_theft",
  "category": "consumer_warning",
  "legalBasis": ["§ 37 Absatz 4 Kreditwesengesetz"],
  "publishedAt": "2026-11-06T08:05:00+00:00",
  "summary": "Die Finanzaufsicht Bafin warnt vor Angeboten über die Website landshypotek-bnk(.)com. Nach Erkenntnissen der Bafin werden dort ohne Erlaubnis Bankgeschäfte angeboten.",
  "language": "de",
  "url": "https://www.bafin.de/SharedDocs/Veroeffentlichungen/DE/Verbrauchermitteilung/unerlaubte/2026/meldung_2026_11_06_landshypotek_bnk_com.html",
  "source": "BaFin (bafin.de)",
  "snapshotAt": "2026-11-07T20:31:38+00:00",
  "personNameRedacted": false,
  "status": "ok"
}
```

Screen mode adds `query`, `matched`, `matchScore` and `matchedOn` (real result):

```json
{
  "query": "Marsh Securities Ltd",
  "matched": true,
  "matchScore": 100,
  "matchedOn": "name:Marsh Securities Limited",
  "companyName": "marsh-ltd.com",
  "otherNames": ["Marsh Securities Limited"],
  "domains": ["marsh-ltd.com"],
  "warningType": "identity_theft",
  "category": "consumer_warning",
  "publishedAt": "2026-11-03T08:25:00+00:00",
  "url": "https://www.bafin.de/SharedDocs/Veroeffentlichungen/DE/Verbrauchermitteilung/unerlaubte/2026/meldung_2026_11_03_marsh_ltd_com.html"
}
```

A name without a hit returns one row with `"matched": false`, the best score found and `warningsChecked` (e.g. `{"query": "Example Trading Ltd", "matched": false, "matchScore": 50, "warningsChecked": 60}`).

**warningType** values: `unauthorised_business`, `identity_theft`, `fake_job_offers`, `winding_up_or_cease_order`, `market_manipulation`, `consumer_warning`, and for measures `administrative_fine`, `administrative_fine_financial_reporting`, `additional_own_funds_requirement`, `licence_revoked`, `winding_up_order`, `supervisory_order`, `reprimand`, `measure_kwg_wpig_gwg`, `measure_wphg`, `measure_insurance_vag`.

**category**: `consumer_warning` (warnings about firms/websites) or `supervisory_measure` (published measures against firms, which are often licensed institutions; filter on this field or turn off `includeMeasures`).

### Pricing

Pay per event, no monthly fee:

- **$0.002 per warning** returned in list mode (= $2 per 1,000)
- **$0.01 per screened name** in screen mode, with or without a hit

A default run (20 warnings) costs $0.04. Screening 100 names costs $1.

### Use via API, n8n, Make or MCP

```bash
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/fast_data_asap~bafin-investor-warnings/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"mode":"screen","queries":["landshypotek-bnk.com","Klever Beratung"]}'
```

- **n8n / Make / Zapier**: use the Apify node with actor `fast_data_asap/bafin-investor-warnings` and the input above; schedule list mode daily for new warnings.
- **MCP (Claude, Cursor, other AI agents)**: `https://mcp.apify.com?tools=fast_data_asap/bafin-investor-warnings`

### Disclaimer

This actor is a technical data retrieval tool. It is **not legal advice** and not an official BaFin service. Matching is heuristic (fuzzy); a hit or a missing hit says nothing definitive about a company. **The BaFin website (bafin.de) is authoritative**; always verify results on the linked BaFin page. To check whether a firm is licensed, use BaFin's company database. Names of natural persons are intentionally not returned.

# Actor input Schema

## `mode` (type: `string`):

list = latest BaFin warnings and measures. screen = check your list of company names or domains against them (fuzzy match).

## `queries` (type: `array`):

Company names, brand names or domains/URLs, one per line. Each screened name is one billable event, with or without a hit.

## `lastDays` (type: `integer`):

Only warnings published within this many days. 0 = everything currently available.

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

Maximum number of warnings returned.

## `keywords` (type: `array`):

Optional. Keep only warnings whose title, summary, firm name or domain contains one of these words, e.g. crypto, Festgeld, WhatsApp, identity.

## `includeMeasures` (type: `boolean`):

Also return BaFin measures (fines, orders, licence revocations, winding-up orders under KWG/WpHG/VAG/GwG). Off = consumer warnings about unauthorised firms and websites only.

## `preferredLanguage` (type: `string`):

When a warning exists in German and English, return this version.

## `fetchDetails` (type: `boolean`):

Opens each warning page to extract all named domains, trade names and the legal basis. Slightly slower, much better for screening.

## `minScore` (type: `integer`):

0-100. A hit is reported as matched when the fuzzy score reaches this value. Exact domain matches score 100.

## `maxMatchesPerQuery` (type: `integer`):

How many matching warnings are returned per screened name.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "list",
  "queries": [
    "landshypotek-bnk.com",
    "Klever Beratung",
    "Example Trading Ltd"
  ],
  "lastDays": 30,
  "maxItems": 20,
  "includeMeasures": true,
  "preferredLanguage": "en",
  "fetchDetails": true,
  "minScore": 85,
  "maxMatchesPerQuery": 3
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

No description

# 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 = {
    "mode": "list",
    "queries": [
        "landshypotek-bnk.com",
        "Klever Beratung",
        "Example Trading Ltd"
    ],
    "lastDays": 30,
    "maxItems": 20
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("fast_data_asap/bafin-investor-warnings").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 = {
    "mode": "list",
    "queries": [
        "landshypotek-bnk.com",
        "Klever Beratung",
        "Example Trading Ltd",
    ],
    "lastDays": 30,
    "maxItems": 20,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("fast_data_asap/bafin-investor-warnings").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 '{
  "mode": "list",
  "queries": [
    "landshypotek-bnk.com",
    "Klever Beratung",
    "Example Trading Ltd"
  ],
  "lastDays": 30,
  "maxItems": 20
}' |
apify call fast_data_asap/bafin-investor-warnings --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,fast_data_asap/bafin-investor-warnings"
        }
    }
}
```

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/gK3kzKo8qJHLQTESk/builds/JfR6Hk38fmyznkzgg/openapi.json