Sudden loss of Gmail [Contacts] list population …

Just a few minutes ago I tried to send a joke to one of my Gmail Groups (of email addresses) and found all that the initial letter produced was a COMMA. I tried sending the joke anyway but only I appeared in the ‘Sent’ folder, as a recipient.

When I checked in my Contacts page, most of my Contacts are gone. I checked in the backup and they’re all gone from there as well.

Oddly, in all the instances I’ve ever seen of missing contacts within online email systems, this is the first time it’s ever been applied to my Gmail account (which according to the blurb is more secure than most).

Anyone else ‘lost’ any email addresses from Gmail?