FBI Wanted List Scraper

Extract comprehensive data from the official FBI Wanted database. This Apify actor provides programmatic access to information about fugitives, missing persons, the Ten Most Wanted, terrorists, cyber criminals, and kidnapping cases directly from the FBI's public API.

What This Scraper Does

The FBI Wanted List Scraper connects to the official FBI Wanted API and extracts detailed records about individuals on various FBI watch lists. Each record includes personal identifiers, physical descriptions, case details, reward information, and photographs. The data is returned in a clean, structured JSON format ready for integration into your applications, databases, or analysis workflows.

Unlike web scrapers that parse HTML, this actor uses the FBI's official public API endpoint, ensuring reliable data extraction without the brittleness of DOM-dependent scraping.

Use Cases

Background Check Companies: Enhance your screening databases with authoritative federal wanted records. Cross-reference applicants against fugitive lists, missing persons cases, and terrorist watch lists.

Security Firms & Private Investigators: Access up-to-date information on wanted individuals for security assessments, protective intelligence, and skip tracing operations.

Compliance Teams: Support your KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) processes with federal wanted list data. Identify potential risks during customer onboarding.

Journalists & Researchers: Gather data for investigative reporting, crime analysis, or academic research on federal law enforcement priorities.

Skip Tracing Services: Locate information about fugitives including known aliases, physical descriptions, and last known locations to assist with locating individuals.

Security Operations Centers: Integrate wanted person data into threat intelligence platforms and watchlist monitoring systems.

Data Fields Returned

Each scraped record includes:

• uid: Unique FBI identifier for the case
• title: Full name of the wanted individual
• aliases: Array of known aliases and alternate names
• description: Case summary and details
• caution: Warning information about the individual
• warning_message: Additional safety warnings
• dates_of_birth_used: Known dates of birth
• race: Racial description
• sex: Gender
• nationality: Country of origin
• height_min / height_max: Height range in inches
• weight: Weight description
• eyes: Eye color
• hair: Hair color
• scars_and_marks: Distinguishing physical features
• reward_min / reward_max: Reward amount range
• reward_text: Reward details and conditions
• images: Array of photo URLs
• field_offices: FBI field offices handling the case
• url: Link to the official FBI wanted page
• subjects: Crime categories and classifications
• status: Current case status
• publication: Publication date
• modified: Last modified date
• scrapedAt: Timestamp of data extraction

Example Output

{
  "uid": "abc123def456",
  "title": "JOHN DOE",
  "aliases": ["Johnny D", "J. Doe"],
  "description": "John Doe is wanted for...",
  "caution": "SHOULD BE CONSIDERED ARMED AND DANGEROUS",
  "warning_message": null,
  "dates_of_birth_used": ["January 15, 1985"],
  "race": "White",
  "sex": "Male",
  "nationality": "American",
  "height_min": 70,
  "height_max": 72,
  "weight": "180 to 200 pounds",
  "eyes": "Brown",
  "hair": "Black",
  "scars_and_marks": "Tattoo on left forearm",
  "reward_min": 50000,
  "reward_max": 100000,
  "reward_text": "The FBI is offering a reward of up to $100,000...",
  "images": ["https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/...image.jpg"],
  "field_offices": ["miami", "newyork"],
  "url": "https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/fugit/john-doe",
  "subjects": ["Violent Crime"],
  "status": "na",
  "publication": "2023-05-15T00:00:00",
  "modified": "2024-01-10T12:30:00",
  "scrapedAt": "2025-01-25T14:30:00.000Z"
}

Input Options

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
maxResults	Integer	100	Maximum number of records to scrape (1-2000)
category	String	"all"	Filter by category: all, ten-most-wanted, fugitives, missing-persons, seeking-info, kidnappings, most-wanted-terrorists, cyber
fieldOffice	String	""	Filter by FBI field office (e.g., "miami", "newyork", "losangeles")
searchName	String	""	Search for a specific name

Example Input

{
  "maxResults": 500,
  "category": "fugitives",
  "fieldOffice": "miami",
  "searchName": ""
}

API Source & Legal

This scraper extracts data from the official FBI Wanted public API (api.fbi.gov). The FBI provides this API for public access to wanted person information.

• No authentication required: The FBI API is publicly accessible
• Official data source: All information comes directly from FBI systems
• Public information: This data is intentionally made public by the FBI for awareness purposes

Pay-Per-Result Pricing

This actor uses pay-per-result pricing. You are charged for each record successfully scraped and added to the dataset. The actor will gracefully stop if your budget limit is reached, ensuring you never exceed your planned spend.

Integration

Export your data in multiple formats:

• JSON
• CSV
• Excel
• XML

Use the Apify API to integrate directly with your applications, or connect via webhooks to trigger downstream processes when new data is available.

Support

For questions or issues with this actor, please open an issue on the actor's GitHub repository or contact support through the Apify platform.

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Keywords: FBI wanted list, fugitives database, missing persons data, Ten Most Wanted scraper, terrorist watch list, cyber criminals, background check data, KYC screening, AML compliance, skip tracing, wanted persons API, law enforcement data, federal fugitives, FBI API scraper