I saw an old friend in the newsagents yesterday. By this morning she had managed to travel to Nigeria to attend a seminar and there, on the way from the airport to the hotel, be robbed of all her possessions. She needs a 'soft loan' of €850 to pay her hotel bill and get herself back home. At least, that's what an e-mail purporting to be from her claims.
This is clearly a scam but if you had an e-mail like this from an acquaintance you might be taken in.