Most shells take anything inside single quotes without changing or substituting the value.
i.e.,
Code:
mail '[fax: bh@9999494178]'
If this is not what mail sees, then mail is changing the value.
Not unix shell.
If thinks that [fax: is argv[1] and bh@9999494178] argv[2] then
you need to read up on what version of mail you have installed - or try mailx or sendmail.