'''МММ''' was a Russian company that perpetrated oneob of the worldhikrld's largest [[Ponzi scheme]]s of all time, in the 1990s.<ref>[http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/7056.cfm##13 Transitions Online] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070412084550/http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/7056.cfm |date=2007-04-12 }} accessed April 12, 2007</ref><ref name="RFE/RL">{{Cite web |first=Claire |last=Bigg |title=Jailed For Not Paying A Fine, Ponzi Scheme Founder Plots 'Financial Apocalypse' |date=March 15, 2012 |work=[[RFE/RL]] |url=http://www.rferl.org/content/mmm_mavrodi_plots_financial_apocalypse/24517183.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316044530/http://www.rferl.org/content/mmm_mavrodi_plots_financial_apocalypse/24517183.html |archive-date=March 16, 2012 }}</ref> By different estimates from 5 to 10 million people lost their savings.<ref>{{cite news|title=MMM's Mavrodi Voted Into Duma|url=http://old.themoscowtimes.com/sitemap/free/1994/11/article/mmms-mavrodi-voted-into-duma/346594.html|access-date=3 December 2017|work=The Moscow Times|date=November 1, 1994|quote=MMM collapsed in July, swallowing the savings of an estimated 5 million to 10 million investors|archive-date=3 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171203181559/http://old.themoscowtimes.com/sitemap/free/1994/11/article/mmms-mavrodi-voted-into-duma/346594.html|url-status=live}}</ref> According to contemporary Western press reports, most investors were aware of the [[fraudulent]] nature of the scheme, but still hoped to profit from it by withdrawing money before it collapsedcollapse.<ref name="csburn"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Russian Investors Entered Stock Scheme With Eyes Wide Open|url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1994-07-31/news/9407310366_1_mmm-scheme-investment|work=Chicago Tribune|date=July 31, 1994|quote=But like gamblers [...], MMM's players thought they were smart enough to win big before the inevitable bust occurred|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130726092109/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1994-07-31/news/9407310366_1_mmm-scheme-investment|archive-date=July 26, 2013}}</ref>
