I use Apple Mail but since I have Office 2011 installed on my Macbook I thought I'd take a look at Outlook.

I shutdown Apple Mail and started Outlook (for the first time), I entered the required info to access my IMAP email account (username, server settings, etc.). All seemed to go well and I could see Outlook retrieving my email.

After some time I noticed it said "All Folders Up To Date". I checked the Sent Items folder and saw about 11,000 messages (normal & expected), but when I clicked on Inbox I noticed it only had 750 messages (about 10% of what I expected). There were messages from the last month, then 5 or 6 messages from 2013, none from 2012 and 2011,, and 2 messages from 2010.

Obviously, this was not right, so I right clicked the Inbox folder & selected Synchronize Now but it would just say it was already up to date. Fishing around in the settings did not reveal any setup issues.

So, I thought that was it for Outlook, and when back to Apple Mail....

After opening my Inbox in Apple Mail I now also see 750 messages! There are thousands (literally) of messages gone in a span of maybe 10 minutes. I checked all other email folders (including Trash) but found nothing.

After 90 minutes on the phone with my ISP I could not get back the contents of my Inbox (also verified by going to HostMonster's webmail and see the same 750 Inbox messages).

Does anyone have an idea of what might have happened?

I am absolutely devastated right now. Gutted, and still in some shock (I am a one person home business that lives & breathes through email).

Any help offered would be greatly appreciated.