Yes there is. I am/was getting attacked. You are the victim here. The person preceding "am/was getting" is the "receiver" of the verb, in this case "attacking". I am/was attacking someone/something. You are the aggressor here. You can use different formats to make the sentences equivalent. I am getting attacked. Someone is attacking me. These mean the same thing. Notice, in the first sentence, the person preceding "getting" is the victim, but by removing "getting" from the sentence, the victim must be placed after "attacking". In the first sentence, the verbal phrase is connected to the subject of the sentence which is "I". Likewise, in the second sentence, the verbal phrase is connected to the subject of the sentence, but in this sentence the subject is "someone".

getting attacked is a more colloquial way of saying "being attacked".