lost folders from email acct
 

What a mess. A week ago Wed. 23 Aug I lost access to my personal email on Yahoo. There is no way I could have "forgot" my password. I use it all the time. I went thru the acct verification online process which failed (provide your Bday, zip code and enter the cryptic code) so it never even went to the page to ask my secret question and answer. Off course the online help got me nowhere; just canned responses that only told me to do what I already had done. Finally was able to find a ph # to call and have password sent to my alternate email address. When I did finally login, all my folders were gone. Everything in my inbox was gone except for new emails received on 8/23 or after. I just got off the phone w/ the same customer support via phone and was told they could not restore my folders. She gave me a short lecture how I am responsible for the security of my acct. Neither could she tell me if my acct had been accessed during the time I was locked out. I would like to know if this was a system problem on their end or if my acct had been, in fact compromised. Any ideas? Could it have been some malicious virus or a malicious person. Anyone know if the folders can be retrieved? THANK YOU.