Myself and the OH got 'scammed' roughly a year ago purchasing our first house - issues with the house known to the vendors were hidden for the survey, not picked up during the survey, not declared on the vendor's documents and entirely missed by myself/OH/her family/my family.
£7,200 in repairs later and we're finally past it. Not an internet scam, but a tale to exercise due caution. I'm usually the 'level-headed' one but entirely missed any warning signs. In retrospect, there were hints of something being wrong but nothing glaring.
The good thing about the internet is you don't necessarily need a knee-jerk response. You can give yourself time to mull things over, or consider how you're going to approach a response. Don't be afraid to ask questions, even if they might come across offensive. You, as the buyer, are the one in a position of power. The vendor can't do anything to you until you're willing to part with your money.
Back to your anecdote,
@jennifer j , it's a shame that someone has gone to the whole effort of generating a fake contract and suchlike. Unfortunately, it sounds like a sad situation in which someone has had to make that quick decision to have a roof over their head. Fortunately (sort of) it's a lessen learned and hopefully will prevent further, similar situations. There are more and more ways to send money securely and more people are becoming aware of scams.