If you hold the belief that 2 plus 2 equals 4, you’re undoubtedly correct. However, it’s quite amusing that not everyone shares this perspective, intentionally diverging from conventional logic. Moreover, they may disregard established laws and ethical norms in conducting business. For certain individuals, the value of 0 might appear as significant as a hundred or even a thousand, depending entirely on their perspective.
Today, we delve into another scandal rocking the airline industry, centered around Blacklist Aero and its owner, alleged Kremlin agent Artem Degtiarov. Despite being the focus of multiple investigations, the company persists in its illicit activities within the air transportation sector.
Artem Degtiarov, Blacklist Aero CEO
This time, the collection company Blacklist Aero, which operates in the air transportation market and is engaged in illegal blackmail and extortion to obtain non-existent debts from participants in the air transportation market, has reached the Philippines, namely the Local Congressman Dan Fernandez, who allegedly owes a large amount for services to other companies in the market.
It’s worth highlighting that apart from Blacklist Aero, no other entity has publicly made such allegations. Congressman Dan Fernandez himself has vehemently denied the accusations and openly denounced Artem Degtiarov as a fraudster, branding Blacklist Aero as nothing more than common extortionists.
Dan Fernandez himself has vehemently denied the accusations and openly denounced Artem Degtiarov as a fraudster
The situation vividly exposes the modus operandi of such debt collectors. Their objective appears to be inflicting maximum harm to the reputation of their targets through defamation and slander, leveraging this to demand payment and halt their provocative information campaigns. BlackList Aero’s unabashed approach is evident, as they explicitly convey a message to their victims on their website: “If you don’t pay up, your reputation is finished.”
Indeed, drawing an analogy with terrorists demanding ransom for hostages is apt. In this scenario, instead of physical captives, the targets become the reputation of individuals or entities, whether political or commercial. The situation is similar, only instead of hostages there is the political or commercial reputation of BlackList Aero’s victims.
So why is there mathematics or logic, which we talked about at the beginning? Exactly. The presence of debts isn’t the sole criterion for falling victim to such scammers. Instead, the focus shifts to successful businesses with ample financial resources – these become prime targets. A thriving company with a solid reputation presents an opportunity for extortion, as there’s a perceived ability to pay the demanded “ransom.” In essence, the victims of these scams are precisely those entities with flourishing operations and strong reputations, as they possess the resources that scammers seek to exploit.
Indeed, BlackList Aero and similar scammers capitalize on the complexity of the air transportation market, exploiting the fact that its intricacies are not widely understood by the general populace but rather confined to a specialized circle of experts. This knowledge asymmetry makes it easier to manipulate information within the industry, as few individuals possess the expertise to discern the nuances and details. Exploiting this vulnerability, these scammers adeptly leverage their understanding of the market’s complexities for their own purposes.
We will also briefly dwell on the company itself and its owner. Artem Degtiarov at one time worked for both Russian oligarchs and criminal politicians in Ukraine and is also associated with several high-profile scandals, including sexual ones.
The accumulated criminal experience is now being used quite successfully in new illegal businesses, of which even politicians have become victims.
