Every figure below is counted from the 173 cases in this library. None is estimated, modelled or extrapolated.
Social Engineering Examples·Recomputed 16 Sep 2026
Counts reflect when each incident occurred, not when it was added. Coverage thins before 2015 because public disclosure was rarer, so the rise after 2022 partly reflects reporting requirements rather than attack volume alone.
| Year | Documented cases |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 19 |
| 2025 | 26 |
| 2024 | 23 |
| 2023 | 18 |
| 2022 | 8 |
| 2021 | 7 |
| 2020 | 6 |
| 2019 | 6 |
| 1978–2018 | 60 |
The current year is partial. Download the full dataset to compute your own cuts.
Most published social engineering statistics blend different quantities into one number. A regulatory fine, a company’s remediation bill, a ransom that was demanded but never paid, and money a victim actually lost are not the same thing. Every figure in this corpus is classified, so you can see exactly what is being counted.
| Classification | Cases | Counted as a loss |
|---|---|---|
| Victim loss, net of recovery | 51 | Yes |
| Court-awarded damages | 1 | Yes |
| No figure disclosed | 96 | No |
| Regulatory penalty or settlement | 7 | No |
| Remediation and investigation cost | 5 | No |
| Ransom or sum demanded, not confirmed paid | 4 | No |
| Attacker’s own cost or asking price | 4 | No |
| Attacker revenue | 1 | No |
| Reported earnings impact | 1 | No |
| Damages alleged in litigation | 1 | No |
| Modelled or economy-wide estimate | 2 | No |
Only the first two rows carry a non-zero loss_usd. Every classification was assigned by reading the figure against its source note, not inferred automatically.
A case can involve more than one channel and more than one sector, so channel and sector figures are counts of cases rather than percentages, and they sum to more than 173.
We publish a median rather than a grand total. The library records amounts stolen from one organisation alongside remediation costs, regulatory settlements and multi-victim campaign figures, and those are different quantities that cannot meaningfully be added together. Where a source gives only a modelled or economy-wide estimate, or states that no figure was ever disclosed, the case is counted as having no disclosed loss.
Figures stated only in a currency other than US dollars are excluded rather than converted at a rate we cannot source. Per-case sourcing is set out in our methodology.
Social Engineering Examples