did you get an email about so-and-so losing her/his wallet in Nigeria?

Be careful of Internet scams.

I received the following email from the local public figure.

Hello,

How are you doing?Please i need a huge favor from you.I have to be quite brief about my present situation which requires your urgent response and help..Actually, I had a trip to Nigeria for a official purpose but unfortunately for me i was robbed on my way back from a meeting and the robbers went away with my money and some other valuablesi
I am so confused right now, I dont know what to do or where to go.I have access to only emails at the moment because my cell can't work here so i didn't bring it along.Even if it is a loan i can pay back when i get home.I need about $3200 to get the hotel bills sorted out.As soon as I get home i would refund it immediately.
Write me so i can let you know how to send it.Even if you can't afford all please try and arrange the little you can so i can come back home.I hope you read and
respond to this email on time because i am desperately in need of urgent help.
Await your swift response
[name redacted]

I don't have this person's phone number in my mobile phone, but I strongly suspect this is a scam.

The New York Times (David F. Gallagher) has an article on this.

Here’s how it works: The scammer somehow breaks into a victim’s Web-based e-mail account. He then impersonates the victim and sends an emergency plea for help to everyone in the account’s address book, asking them to wire money to Nigeria. The e-mail includes some variation on a story about getting mugged or losing a wallet while on a trip to Nigeria.

I'll put some research into verifying this public official is OK, but my guess is that s/he is fine, minus getting control of his/her Yahoo email account.

I've learned to hate strongly dislike (MLK said, "Hate is too great a burden to bear.") Yahoo at my place of employment. The spam filter sends legit emails to spam and allows way too much spam. Other web-based email seems to be much better, especially Gmail.