OFAC Sanctions Screening: SDN List Name Matching

OFAC SDN Sanctions Screener: Name Matching

Screen any list of names against the OFAC SDN list: Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons, the primary US sanctions list maintained by Treasury. ~13,000 entities. Joins sdn.csv + alt.csv + add.csv for full names, aliases, addresses.

Built for KYC / compliance / AML / sanctions screening workflows. No login, no API key: pulls fresh files from treasury.gov on each run.

Two modes

screen (default): name matching

{
  "mode": "screen",
  "names": ["John Smith", "Acme Trading Co"],
  "minScore": 60
}

Output: one row per match per input name. Includes match score (0-100) for downstream thresholding.

dump: full list export

{ "mode": "dump" }

Output: one row per SDN entity. Use for ETL or building your own screening logic.

Inputs

input	default	notes
mode	screen	screen or dump.
names	[]	Required when mode=screen.
minScore	60	Drop matches below this. 100 = exact only.
typesFilter	all	Restrict by entity type: Individual, Entity, Vessel, Aircraft.
programsFilter	all	Restrict to specific OFAC programs: IRAN, RUSSIA-EO14024, SDGT, NARCOTICS, CUBA, etc.

Output schema

field	example
inputName	John Smith (screen mode only)
matchScore	82 (screen mode only)
matchKind	alt_name_substring
matchedName	Johnny Smith (screen mode only)
entityNumber	12345
name	canonical SDN name
type	individual (also entity, vessel, aircraft)
programs	["IRAN", "SDGT"]
title	(when present)
altNames	[{"type": "aka", "name": "..."}, ...]
addresses	[{"address": "...", "cityState": "...", "country": "..."}]
remarks	(when present)
vesselType	Tanker (when type=Vessel)
callSign	(when applicable)
tonnage	(when applicable)
vesselFlag	(when applicable)
vesselOwner	(when applicable)

Scoring

Deterministic, no ML:

• Exact normalized name → 100
• Exact alt-name → 95
• Input is substring of name → 90
• Name is substring of input → 80
• Token overlap (Jaccard) → up to 75

Normalization: lowercase, strip punctuation, collapse whitespace.

What it doesn't do

• No EU / UN / UK / Canada / OFSI lists: OFAC SDN only. Other US lists (SSI, Entity List, MEU, ...) and EU/UN will be separate actors.
• No fuzzy / phonetic / NLP matching: deterministic scoring only.
• No "false positive flag": that's your analyst's call.

Pricing

Pay per event. Price per 1,000 events:

Event	Base price	Bronze	Silver	Gold
SDN match returned	$1.70	$1.53	$1.36	$1.19

Bronze, Silver and Gold are the discounts Apify gives users of its paid plans. The Pricing tab always shows the current prices.

Run it through the API

Python, with the apify-client package:

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>")
run = client.actor("v0iddo/ofac-sdn-screener").call(run_input={})
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

JavaScript, with the apify-client package:

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>' });
const run = await client.actor('v0iddo/ofac-sdn-screener').call({});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);

One HTTP call that waits for the run and returns the rows (for runs that finish within 5 minutes):

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/v0iddo~ofac-sdn-screener/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{}'

Use it from an agent (MCP)

Claude, Cursor, VS Code and other MCP clients can call this actor as a tool through the Apify MCP server. Add it to the client's MCP configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=v0iddo/ofac-sdn-screener",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer <YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>"
      }
    }
  }
}

FAQ

Do I need an account, cookies or an API key?

No. The actor reads public data without logging in. You only need an Apify account to start it.

How am I charged?

Pay per event, at the prices on the Pricing tab for your Apify plan (the Pricing section of this page lists them). The platform usage of the run is included in those prices, and your spending limit for a run is always respected.

Why did my run return no results?

The status message and the log of the run say why: usually nothing matched the input, or the source did not answer for a moment. Check the input against the example above and run it again.

Can I run it on a schedule?

Yes. Save your input as a task and add a schedule in the Apify Console (daily, hourly or with a cron expression). Each run gets its own dataset, so you keep a history.

Which formats can I export?

JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, HTML table and RSS from the Output tab or the API. Integrations send the rows to Google Sheets, Slack, Make, Zapier, n8n or a webhook.

Is collecting this data allowed?

The actor collects data that the source publishes openly, without a login. Public data can still be personal data under laws such as the GDPR, and sources have their own terms: make sure your use of the data follows the rules that apply to you.

What happens when the source changes?

An automated test runs the actor every day on the example input and checks the rows, not only that the run finished. When a check fails, the actor is repaired and rebuilt; the build history on this page shows each update.

Something is missing or wrong. Where do I report it?

Open an issue on the Issues tab of this actor with the run link. Requests for a new field are welcome too.

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