Now, I am trying to re-activate the account. When I emailed the account, it gave me an error. I assume the account as been deleted as per the 365 day rule. I went to try to make an account using the same username, but it will not let me. I read somewhere that it might have something to do with it being linked to other email accounts? Is this possible?

For starters, I think it might be linked to a couple of my old email accounts, which I should be able to login to and delete. However, what if that scammer that stole it from me has it linked to an email account of his? Will I never be able to get this email back? 

Please, any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated.