Financial fraud research has grown rapidly over two decades, spanning multiple sectors. Using CiteSpace and VOSviewer, we analyzed thirty years of literature from core journals, identifying key contributors, hotspots, frontiers, and trends to finally conclude some valuable rules and patterns in this kind of research. First, publications show an upward trend, with China and the United States dominating the field. Second, research focuses on three main dimensions including audit practices, legal regulations, and corporate governance, examining fraud motivations, legal consequences, economic impacts, and litigation risks. Third, current frontiers utilize AI technologies like deep learning and language models to build multi-source fraud datasets, improving detection accuracy. These findings establish a foundation for theoretical development, legal frameworks, and advanced detection methods.