Rentals and the internet - a cautionary tale

I advertise with a well-known website specialising in owner-led rentals all over the world. I’ll call it X I had an email on 7th July from a prospective customer (Y) asking for dates which were already booked. I usually still reply out of politeness but this time I didn’t – must have been extra-busy. Anyway, yesterday I got another email via X’s website from Y saying that he’s signed the contract and paid the money but now couldn’t get hold of the person he was dealing with (Z)I emailed him back saying I’d never heard anything since his initial email on 7th July. He sent me a copy of a signed contract which included bank details, address etc of Z, but using my property ID. I’ve pointed out to him that Z’s details are different to mine, and it’s either X’s mistake or a scam.I phoned X customer services, who say that my email must have been hacked and Y’s email intercepted and replied to . They would take my site down until I could give them a new email address. As a precaution I’ve changed my email address for all correspondence – a huge pain as you’ll all know.But not as big a pain as suffered by poor Y, who is seriously out of pocket and not going on the holiday which he thought he was going on.I’d be interested to know if anyone else has come across this.And the lessons??:• If I’d answered this poor guy’s email he might have realised there was something not right when he got another one from someone else• He wrote on 7 July asking about 11th August – that’s pretty late in the day and he was no doubt in a hurry and pleased to find there was something still available. Critical faculties may have been put on hold as a result• And maybe in the future I’ll put a warning in the initial email about scamsters’ tactics.....