Phishing: Statistics & Financial ImpactOne Attack Can Trigger a Cascade of Consequences

Brandon Figueroa | December 18, 2025 | 3 min read

How Many Bogus Emails Does It Take to Derail Your Business?

With a phishing attack, even a single click or download can have disastrous results.

If an attacker successfully harvests your information, that data could be used to commit crimes in your name. If crooks latch on to information from your business, it could derail your bottom line, your operational stability, and your brand’s reputation.

In this chapter, we discuss the impact of a successful attack and explore the ways a single successful scam can wreak havoc on your business for months — or years — to come.

Phishing

Phishing involves a scammer attempting to deceive unsuspecting victims into voluntarily divulging sensitive information. An estimated 90% of cyberattacks begin with a phishing attempt. Here’s what you need to know about these attacks and how you can protect yourself.

Knowledge Guide

The Impact of Phishing: An Overview

Phishing is a disturbingly common occurrence. Merchants, cardholders, and financial institutions lose billions of dollars annually to these attacks, and businesses spend even more money to detect, prevent, and fight phishing attackers.

1.2

percent

Portion of all emails suspected to be phishing attempts.

Source: Astra

$17.4

billion

Estimated financial losses attributable to phishing attacks in 2024.

Source: Astra

$4.88

million

Average financial loss experienced by a single business targeted in a phishing attack in 2024.

Source: IBM

4,151

percent

The two-year growth in the number of attempted phishing attacks since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022.

Source: SlashNext

2,330

attempts

The average number of phishing attempts a 1,000-person organization can expect to experience in a year.

Source: Hoxhunt

How Phishing Attacks Impact Merchants

The majority of phishing schemes are aimed at consumers. Even in those cases, however, merchants will ultimately end up paying at least part of the price. If a phishing scammer targets your customers, you could end up seeing:

Lost Sales

If a fraudster is spoofing your website, you’ll never see any revenue from those would-be customers.

Loss of Data Integrity

If you’re tracking customer data points, having otherwise legitimate orders bypass your systems will skew your numbers.

Reputational Damage

Your reputation will take a hit if victims blame you for non-delivery or for being scammed. That can leave a black mark on your brand’s trustworthiness.

Decline in Customer Loyalty

Discovering there’s a dummy version of your site being used in phishing attacks may make even your most loyal customers rethink doing business with you.

Chargebacks

Faux credit cards created from phished consumer data will lead to refunds, as well as potential chargebacks.

In a larger sense, all fraudulent activity increases the cost of operating your business. More fraud means lower margins for you, as well as increased investments in security, fraud mitigation, and identity protection.

Eventually, all these costs get passed to the customer in the form of higher prices. When that happens, the entire market suffers.

How Phishing Attacks Impact Cardholders

Although merchants ultimately foot the bill in many cases, it’s not to say that cardholders are immune from the fallout caused by phishing. Far from it, in fact. Consumers who fall victim to phishing scams can experience:

Financial Disruption

While some fraudulent transactions using the victim’s financial data may be reimbursed, card- or bank account-holders are likely to face significant financial disruption.

Identity Theft

Scammers often use personally identifying information to apply for credit cards, take out loans, or open up new bank accounts, saddling the victim with debts they did not incur.

Account Lockouts

Fraudsters may take over a victim’s accounts directly. This could result in missed payments, overdraft fees, or further financial compromise.

Psychological Distress

Victims of a phishing attack may feel violated. In addition to the stress of trying to undo damage caused by the crime, duped cardholders may lose their sense of security.

Data Loss

By definition, phishing scams involve the transfer of sensitive data from the victim to the attacker. The victim loses control of their data, meaning it can be abused by others.

How Phishing Attacks Impact Financial Institutions

When a phishing scam succeeds, the damage isn’t isolated to just cardholders and merchants. As intermediaries, financial institutions themselves are often ensnared in the crisis, too. In many instances, the complex and costly aftermath will include:

Financial Fallout

While merchants may be on the hook for criminal fraud chargebacks, financial institutions will likely shoulder the consequences of ACH or wire fraud. This could additionally result in substantial and often unpredictable losses.

Erosion of Trust

When phishing attacks successfully target a bank’s customers, it can cause a rapid and severe loss of confidence. That could cause customers to defect, negatively impacting the financial institution’s short-term profitability and long-term growth prospects.

Higher Operating Costs

The aftermath of a phishing attack will bring operational burdens and major expenses for the financial institution involved. Significant resources will be spent investigating incidents, managing customer support, and reissuing compromised cards.

Regulatory Penalties

Even a single phishing-related breach can result in increased scrutiny from regulatory bodies. Banks may be subject to audits, investigations, and potentially hefty fines if their security measures are found to be inadequate.

Higher Insurance Costs

Cyber risk insurance policies may give banks some recourse in the event of a cyber attack, filing a claim will typically result in higher premiums. This translates to higher ongoing operating costs, which will likely trickle down to customers.

Phishing

Phishing: Statistics & Financial ImpactOne Attack Can Trigger a Cascade of Consequences