You are invited to participate in a study concerning the effects of the Madoff Ponzi Scheme upon former investors. My name is Dr. Audrey Freshman, Ph.D; LCSW; CASAC and I am conducting this survey research. My family and I were also former Madoff investors. I am interested in advancing research concerning the psychological impact of this event upon its victims.

Would you be willing to take approximately 5 minutes to fill out the questionnaire attached to this introduction? Your responses will be anonymous; there is no way for me or anyone else to know who completed a survey. Survey data will only be reported in aggregate form, none of the responses of any one individual will ever be published.

You can exit the survey at any time and do not need to complete any question that makes you uncomfortable. The level of risk attached to participating in this study is minimal and is the same as you would experience in your every day life. If you do experience emotional discomfort in response to any question you can go to any one of the online support groups such as http://groups.google.com/group/madoffsupportgroup or bernardmadoffvictims.org for further assistance.

If you have any questions please contact me directly by phone: 516 678-2549 or email: afresh314@gmail.com. If you choose to participate, please click on “I CONSENT” at the bottom of the screen to begin the survey.

Participation in this study is completely voluntary.

Although you will not gain anything personally, you will be helping to make an important contribution to the advancement of knowledge about the effects of trauma generated by the Madoff event. If you are interested in the research outcome, a summary of the results will be posted on www.afreshstartonline.com and on the online Madoff support groups.

Thank you in advance for your participation.