The email asks the recipient to send money to them overseas because they have been robbed, jailed, etc. The scammers also seem to know information on the people they are calling or the "purported" victim which makes the scam that much more believable. There is also a telephone scam very similar to this circulating the area too.
If you receive an email such as this please do not send money without first verifying through ANOTHER FORM OF COMMUNICATION such as a phone call, call to a mutual friend, or the sender's relative.
DO NOT give out any of your personal information over email, telephone, text message, etc. Unfortunately scammers are able to bilk citizens out of millions of dollars each year with just a few key strokes.