Sergei Mavrodi's new financial project MMM -2011 is confidently walking around the planet. There are already 20 million people and billions of dollars in the system. The flow of people wishing to bring their money to Mavrodi does not dry up and Tomsk does not lag behind the general fever. Banner advertising appears in the city, new MMM offices are opening and, according to the participants themselves, about 10 thousand Tomsk residents have joined the system. Why were there, are and will be financial pyramids in Rus'? And why are Tomsk residents happy to be deceived?