Various fraud attempts using the name Samuel Benson and Hexta Energy & Resources Ltd
Date First Reported: July 2013
Primary Name Associated: Samuel Benson
Description of Potential Fraud:
An Ontario lawyer informed us that his client, who was looking to sell some rural property, was contacted by the purported Samuel Benson ([email protected]) of Hexta Energy & Resources Ltd in Nigeria about purchasing the land. The lawyer did a Google search of that name and found that others have been contacted by this person about other business ventures (see below), and advised his client not to have any dealings with him.
This is the contact information the seller in Ontario was given:
My Company is Hexta Energy & Resources Ltd
Mr Samuel Benson
Address: 108 Aba road,
Port Harcourt.
Rivers State
Nigeria
Tel: +234-818-645-7822
This was another email found online by the lawyer:
Dear Sir
I am Mr Samuel Benson, the head Hexta Energy & Resources ltd. I am willing to invest the sum amount of $5,800,000 only, with you if you would be honest and sincere to handle the investment and to return back to me a % profit yearly in 5-years period of time.
If yes, then you can get in touch with me via my email.
Mr. Samuel Benson
Hexta Energy & Resources Ltd
How to handle a real or suspected fraud
If you have been targeted by any of these frauds, please forward any of the emails and supporting documents that you have received to [email protected].
If you suspect you are acting on a matter that might be a fraud, call LAWPRO at 1-800-410-1013 (416-598-5899). We will talk you through the common fraud scenarios we are seeing and help you spot red flags that may indicate you are being duped. This will help you ask appropriate questions of your client to determine if the matter is legitimate or not. If the matter you are acting on turns out to be a fraud and there is a potential claim, we will work with you to prevent the fraud and minimize potential claims costs.
If you have been successfully duped, please immediately notify LAWPRO as there may be a claim against you.
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Fraud Fact Sheet More fraud prevention information and resources are available on the practicePRO Fraud page, including the Fraud Fact Sheet, a handy reference for lawyers and law firm staff that describes the common frauds and the red flags that can help identify them.
October 03, 2013 at 7:42 pm, Kevin Mayo said:
I have been contacted by a person identifying himsel as Benibo Samuel dba as Bencoil Resources Limited located at 18 Afikpo Road Onne, Port Harcourt, Rivers State Nigeria (same town as in your above situation). I met him through Private Money Golmine website which is a site that matches investors with private money lenders. Mr. Samuel’s email to me is eerily similar to the wording above wherein he offered to fund $1,500,000 if I would “…be honest and sincere to handle the investment and to return back to me an 8% profit yearly in a five years period of time.” He sent me a proposed “partnership agreement” that as an atty I reviewed and concluded that it wasn’t what I would expect for a $1,500,000 loan. It sounded all waaaayyyy too easy. I was disappointed to see your email above which seems to confirm my suspicions that something isn’t right here. I also found that (I think) the same Mr. Benibo Samuel appears on a number of other “angel investor” websites matching investors with private money lenders.
October 22, 2013 at 2:44 pm, Maykel Barrera said:
I was also contacted by a Banibo Samuel of Bencoil Resources for the same loan and followed his game till the end. He sends you a partnership agreement and before he wires the money he asks you to send him 250 dls for a letter from the “Nigerien Finance Monitoring Team” that will prove the funds free of money laundering and other scams. Then with that letter the bank will wire the money. I had to laugh as he said this supposed agency had to recieve the money from the fund beneficiary. I hope people will just learn about all these scamers from Nigeria.
October 30, 2013 at 3:21 am, Jessica Barrett said:
My name’s Jessica Barrett and my company is Star Studios LLC. Motion Picture. I was contacted by Samuel Benson in November 2011. He stated he’d invest
$7.5 million into my movie project. In February 2012 I started paying all these fees required to receive the investment. I paid out a total of $10,000. and went into debt just to have Mr. Samuel Benson invest in my company. He contacted me today and asked for more money from me. After I read the articles from everyone else who was contacted by Mr. Samuel Benson, I was livid and now am trying to find an Attorney who works on suing other people in different countries. I’m now in $30,000 debt do to all the equipment I had to purchase for Pre-Production to get started. I also cashed in all my stocks and emptied my Savings account trusting Mr. Samuel Benson. I hope my article will worn other folks to never trust any investor in another country.
Thank you
Jessica Barrett
STAR STUDIOS LLC.
December 20, 2013 at 11:17 am, Joe said:
Ditto on being contacted by “Mr. Benibo Samuel”. He found me on my real estate investing website and on my personal email somehow. “$1,500,000 investment for wholesale, rehab properties.”
Stay away!
Joe
December 21, 2013 at 12:38 am, Robert said:
I received the the same email from Mr. Benibo Samuel off the Lendpost.com site:
“I am writing this letter to you seeking for your assistance in real estate property investment.”
“I am willing to invest with you the sum amount of $1,500,000 only in wholesale, turnkey and rehab properties, If you would be honest and sincere to handle the investment and to return back to me a % interest per year in 5 – years period of time.”
“If you are interested kindly get in touch with me via my email.”
Glad I came here instead of contacting him any further.
December 26, 2013 at 10:26 am, Victor Lopez said:
Wow! I’m glad I did some research. I am in the same $1.5M scenario. My account is -$177 so he would not have gotten any money from me, but none the less, I’m glad I looked him up. Sorry for those of you that took that leap. Hope he gets busted.
January 27, 2014 at 12:01 am, Shawn said:
Thanks for all the comments. I just knew if it sounds too good chances are it is. I too was contacted by a Samuel Benibo from Nigeria. He too told me that he wanted to invest in real estate with me. I believe he found me through my investor member website. Beware!
February 16, 2014 at 12:06 am, Ann said:
On 2/13/14, I received a contact me request through my private lenders’ website, see below:
Name
Benibo Samuel
Phone
(704)696-6577
Email
[email protected]
Something didn’t feel right about this request.
So, I started checking it out.
I don’t know if the phone number is accurate, but it is a NC phone number. I didn’t call, but decided to also search his name and e-mail address, came upon the Nigeria name, and Hexta…
I know Nigeria is the scam capital of the world, and once I discovered your website with comments about this man, I knew I had been right about not contacting him.
He is just one more scammer from Nigeria….
February 21, 2014 at 4:50 pm, shawn said:
I received an e-mail from salm ben ([email protected]) looking to invest 2.5 mil. into real estate investing how ever i chose to earn him an interest of 7% annually for 3 years of which he would wire the money upon execution of signed contract. From Mr. Benibo Samuel. It pays to Google.
April 14, 2014 at 7:50 pm, Uncle Don said:
I, too, was just contacted by Mr. Benibo Samuel. He was interested in a piece of property I am listing on a particular site. At this point in the game, he is merely inquiring about my price, my terms, and OTHER things that were listed in my posting. I wrote back with sincerity and then decided to check him out. I will keep everyone posted as the scam.
Thank you!
November 18, 2014 at 10:23 am, Bernie said:
I posted an add on LoopNet seeking an investor and received a response through Loopnet offering US$12,800,000.00. Term of 5 years with annual interest of 7%. Always get concerned when the offer comes from Nigeria. The investor was Samuel Benson / Samco & Sons Investment, KM 128 Elele Rd, Rivers State, Nigeria. I was emailed a Unsecured Promissory Note to sign, with no mention of any fees to be paid.
February 13, 2015 at 10:00 am, Bessie Okon said:
I was fraud on Wednesday 11/02/2015 by this name Samuel Benson with a sum of #50,000. I don’t know how to recover my money. Pls I need your help. Email me so I can give u their numbers
February 17, 2015 at 1:49 pm, TimLemieux said:
Sorry to hear that. Unfortunately we only provide information, and have no ability to investigate the frauds. You should contact your bank and local police.
April 12, 2021 at 4:35 pm, John Eric said:
It appears Mr Samuel is live and well in Nigeria again in 2021 doing business as an investor and Samo Estate Value Investments. I am running down his rabbit trap presently, however looks and runs like the same fraud
July 14, 2021 at 2:29 pm, Joe said:
I was also contacted by this same scammer after I posted that I was looking for investors in a website called “Florida Investment Network”. His message was:
“I am willing to invest the sum of US$250,000 only with you in your project, if you are still actively seeking funds/investors.
Thank you
Mr. Elvis Samuel”
The scammer email is: [email protected] – Elvis Estate Sam
He asked me to sign a Sheet Term, but never asked for my full name, copy of ID, and then he asked if I wanted him to either send me a check or do wire transfer. I understand there’s a scam risk when someone sends you a fake check, so I gave him my bank wire instructions, (no pin or passwords) only routing and account number. After I gave him that he said he would wire the funds that same day. But after I sent him my bank info he doesn’t reply to my emails anymore.
August 08, 2021 at 1:51 pm, Kenny Gallagher said:
Yep, was also contacted by Elvis Samuel after posting on AskForFunding.com. Signed a term sheet, now asking for wire transfer information. Same scenario as the two previous posts. Be aware. We it looks too easy…it’s a fraud. Raising money is hard and legitimate investors do a lot of due diligence.
December 22, 2021 at 11:09 am, Laneika Walker said:
I also was contacted by mailto:[email protected] after posting on “askforfunding.com” he presented an offer and I countered but never heard back from him.
September 04, 2023 at 5:47 pm, Georgia said:
I think I might have been contacted by the same scam guy. He sent me the message from my business website.
Hi. Benjamin Samuel has asked you the following question: Hi,
I am interested in your project funding needed of US$500,000.00 and I would like to know if you are still actively seeking funds as I would like to provide the funds and also be a silent investor.
Thank you
Benjamin Samuel. Please reply to Benjamin Samuel on [email protected] +19496899749. Best, UENI.
Then I asked him for some information about him if we were going to be partners. The red flags went up when I saw that he was Nigeria.
Dear Georgia,
My name: Benjamin Samuel, I owned and operated a real estate firm and Seafood company here in my Country.
My Business name: Samgoil Resources Ltd.
Telephone number: +234-818-138-2798
Address: 108 Trans Amadi industrial layout, Port Harcourt Rivers State, Nigeria.
My company specializes in livestock and seafood export and import, offshore rig supply and distributions nationwide.
Thank you
Benjamin Samuel