I had received a FW: ad from someone of my past about a how he ordered a iPhone etc. and got it legally shipped blah blah blah, you know how those ads are. Im still on his contact list but did he personally choose me or did the Yahoo mail automatically send the ad to all his contacts?

Can someone please answer I would really appreciate it

I would have to surmise the person's email account of which the email was forwarded from (your friend) had his account hacked. I know of some friends and colleagues who I received emails from for 'getting a free iPad if you're willing to do testing' and know for a fact it was a scam and was unintentionally sent from them. If you are no longer in contact with the person from your past, creating a filter via your email client (Outlook, Mail, Thunderbird, etc.) or webmail client (Gmail, Hotmail, etc.) would be advisable and if you have any questions on how to do this, feel free to ask :)