In the case of a translating ribosome, a frameshift can either result in Nonsense mutation, a premature stop codon after the frameshift, or the creation of a completely new protein after the frameshift. In the case where a frameshift results in nonsense, the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) pathway may destroy the mRNA transcript, so frameshifting would serve as a method of regulating the expression level of the associated gene.
If a novel or off-target protein is produced, it can trigger other unknown consequences.