Purpose This study aims to review the degree to which fraud and other unethical practices especially in the digital space have affected the Nigerian banking industry both in the past and present, and how it will be a growing concern in the imminent future. The objective of the study was to examine the impact of electronic fraud on the quality of assets and return on assets of Nigerian deposit money banks. Design/methodology/approach The research used secondary data for the periods 2006 till 2018, which were collected from the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation annual reports. Descriptive analysis and the ordinary least square method of regression analysis were used for data analysis. Findings Findings revealed that electronic fraud cases increased progressively over most of the years of study, which can be attributed to the increased bank products that are electronic-based. Originality/value Many of the reviewed literature examined electronic fraud and its impact on bank profitability but this study examined the cause of electronic fraud and what can be done to curtail it.