The damage caused by phishing attacks varies greatly depending on the type of attack, the situation and the victim. In the case of companies or political institutions, the motivation can be chaos or espionage instead of financial gain. In Germany alone, the annual economic damage amounts to 55 billion euros.
The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), for example, gives an average damage of €4,000 that occurred in the online banking of private individuals. However, damage can also be higher and the damage caused by effort and data loss is difficult to measure in money.