Fraud is an intentional act, misstatement, or omission designed to deceive others, in order to achieve a gain. Fraud schemes are often ongoing crimes that can go undetected for months or even years, and can be time consuming and costly to address. Fraud is typically categorized as internal or external. Internal fraud is where an employee, a former employee, or a third party engaged by the bank, colludes or commits fraud, or otherwise enables or contributes to fraud. External fraud is committed by a personal entity that is not their bank, a bank employee, or a former employee, or third party engaged by the bank. First party fraud occurs when an external party, including a bank customer, commits fraud against the bank. Victim fraud occurs when a bank customer or client is the victim of an intentional fraudulent act.

In 2022, Credit Suisse agreed to pay 238 million Euros to avoid prosecution on French money laundering and tax fraud charges. It was one of a number of cases from a series of European investigations into undeclared Swiss bank accounts. In France, prosecutors have also settled similar claims with HSBC and UBS. This is an example of internal fraud, where bank employees have enabled fraud to happen.