FBI Most Wanted List Scraper

FBI Most Wanted List Scraper

Scrape fugitive profiles from the FBI Most Wanted lists, including the Ten Most Wanted and ECAP. Every record returns the subject's name, aliases, charges, physical description, reward, and poster image URL. Filter by keyword, field office, or case status.

The FBI publishes its most wanted fugitives and missing persons across several public lists, but there is no official API to query them in bulk. This Actor reads the live FBI.gov wanted feeds directly, letting you search by name or keyword and narrow results by poster category, person role, field office, or case status. You get a clean, structured dataset without writing a single parser.

Who uses it	What they scrape FBI Most Wanted for
Journalists and newsrooms	Monitoring new additions to the Ten Most Wanted list for breaking crime stories.
Security and investigations firms	Cross-referencing client databases against active FBI fugitive alerts.
True crime researchers	Building a historical archive of fugitive profiles and case status changes.
Compliance officers	Screening individuals against publicly listed federal fugitives during due diligence.

What it does

This Actor collects fugitive profiles from the FBI Most Wanted public listings and returns each person as a flat row with their identifiers, charges, physical details, and reward information.

• 🔍 Keyword search: free-text search across names, aliases, descriptions, and charges to find specific individuals.
• 📋 Poster category filter: restrict results to the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list or the Endangered Child Alert Program (ECAP).
• 👤 Person role filter: choose between wanted subjects (Main) or victims associated with a case.
• 🏢 Field office filter: narrow results to fugitives handled by a specific FBI field office, such as Chicago or Los Angeles.
• 📊 Status filter: include or exclude cases by resolution status: no arrest, captured, recovered, located, surrendered, or deceased.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

What you can do with FBI Most Wanted data

📰 Monitor breaking fugitive alerts.

A newsroom runs the Actor daily against the Ten Most Wanted category to detect new additions and publish timely coverage.

🕵️ Screen individuals during background checks.

An investigations firm searches by name and aliases to check whether a subject appears on any active FBI wanted list.

📁 Archive case status changes.

A researcher collects the full dataset weekly, filtering by captured or deceased status, to track how long cases remain open.

🌎 Focus on a specific region.

A local law enforcement liaison filters by the Miami field office to monitor only fugitives with ties to their jurisdiction.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
No API key or registration	Reads the public FBI.gov feeds directly with no authentication required.
Structured output	Every fugitive profile is returned in a consistent flat schema ready for CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML export.
Up to one million records	Collect as many fugitive profiles as you need in a single run.
Live data	Each run pulls the current state of the FBI wanted lists, reflecting recent captures or new additions.

How it compares

No other Store actor targets FBI Most Wanted the same way, so the honest comparison is with the alternatives teams actually weigh.

	FBI Most Wanted List Scraper	Build it in-house	By hand
Setup	Run it now, zero config	Days of engineering	None, but hours per pull
When FBI Most Wanted changes	Maintained for you	You fix it	You re-learn the page
Proxies, retries, anti-bot	Built in	Your problem	Browser only
Output	Fixed JSON schema, CSV/Excel export	Whatever you build	Copy-paste
Cost	Pay per result	Engineering time	Analyst hours

Configure the run

Drive the Actor with a free-text keyword and optional filters for poster category, person role, field office, and case status. Filters are applied as each profile is read so only matching fugitives reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
  "maxItems": 10
}

A larger pull:

{
  "maxItems": 200
}

Pricing

Pay-per-result: $0.0359 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

Results collected	Approximate cost
100 results	$3.59
1,000 results	$35.90
10,000 results	$359.00

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

Run it

1. Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
2. Open the FBI Most Wanted List Scraper.
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.

Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to FBI Most Wanted through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/fbi-wanted-list-scraper"

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

Troubleshooting

Why am I getting no results?

Check that your keyword or filters are not too restrictive. Try clearing the keyword and setting all filters to their default All or Any values, then run again to see the full dataset.

The field office filter is not returning any fugitives.

Make sure you are using the correct slug format: lowercase city name with no spaces, such as losangeles or newyork. Not all field offices have active wanted listings at all times.

Some fugitive records are missing reward information.

Not every FBI wanted poster includes a reward amount. If the FBI does not publish a reward for a particular fugitive, that field will be empty in your dataset.

The Actor is returning fewer records than my maxItems setting.

The maxItems value is an upper limit. The Actor returns only the records that exist and match your filters. If the FBI has fewer active posters than your limit, you will receive all available matches.

Can I get historical data or past versions of the wanted list?

This Actor reads the live FBI.gov site and returns only current listings. To build a historical archive, schedule regular runs and store the datasets over time.

FAQ

Question	Answer
Does this scraper require an FBI API key or login?	No. It reads the public FBI.gov wanted pages directly. No registration, no API key, and no OAuth flow is needed.
What data fields does each fugitive record include?	Each record includes the person's name, aliases, charges, physical description (race, sex, height, weight, hair, eyes), reward amount, poster image URL, field office, and case status.
Can I search for a specific person by name?	Yes. Use the keyword input to search across names, aliases, descriptions, and charges. The Actor matches your term against all searchable text fields.
What is the difference between the Ten Most Wanted and ECAP categories?	The Ten Most Wanted list is the FBI's flagship list of the most dangerous fugitives. ECAP stands for Endangered Child Alert Program and focuses on cases involving missing or exploited children.
Can I filter by whether a fugitive has been captured?	Yes. The status filter lets you select specific resolutions: no arrest, captured, recovered, located, surrendered, or deceased.
How do I filter by a specific FBI field office?	Enter the field office slug in the Field office input. Use lowercase city names like atlanta, chicago, losangeles, miami, or newyork.
What is the person role filter for?	Some FBI posters feature victims rather than wanted subjects. Use the person role filter to select Main (the wanted subject) or Victim, or leave it on All to get both.
How many fugitive records can I collect in one run?	You can set the maximum up to one million records per run. The actual number returned depends on how many profiles match your filters.
Is the data updated live?	Yes. Each run fetches the current state of the FBI wanted lists from the live FBI.gov website, so you always get the latest information.
What export formats are supported?	You can export your dataset in CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML format from the Apify platform.

Related actors

Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.

🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Federal Bureau of Investigation. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.