How to Search OFAC Sanctions Lists

The U.S. Treasury publishes sanctions data for public use, but turning the downloadable files into a repeatable search workflow still takes parsing, filtering, and export work. The OFAC Sanctions Scraper converts the SDN and consolidated non-SDN lists into structured dataset rows.

Start with a reviewable search

Use a name or distinctive keyword and keep the first run small. A bounded result set is easier to compare with the official source and prevents broad words from flooding a review queue.

{
  "queries": ["cyber"],
  "listType": "both",
  "programs": [],
  "maxResults": 25
}

Each row includes the OFAC UID, published name, entity type when available, program tags, vessel attributes, remarks, list type, and source URL. Preserve the UID and list type together as the record key. Names can change, aliases can overlap, and identical names can identify unrelated parties.

Verify before using the result

Open the official source and compare the UID, name, programs, and remarks for candidate rows. A substring match is only a retrieval signal. It does not establish that a customer, vendor, beneficial owner, or vessel is the party in the record.

For recurring work, save the input as an Apify Task and schedule it. Store each successful dataset with its timestamp, then compare identifiers across runs. Route additions or changed remarks to a qualified reviewer. Keep the raw source fields with any internal assessment so another analyst can reproduce the decision later.

This division is important: automation gathers and organizes official records; your screening policy determines matching thresholds, escalation, evidence, and disposition.