The tales of woe and the list of Bernard Madoff's victims continue to grow. Associated Press reports that the list includes former Philadelphia Eagles owner Norman Braman, New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon and J. Ezra Merkin, the chairman of GMAC Financial Services, the Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation in Massachusetts which supports Jewish programs, the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System and the Texas-based Julian J. Levitt Foundation and the town of Fairfield, Connecticut, which is said to have placed nearly 15% of its retiree pension fund with Madoff. Add to that those hedge funds and other investment group. For a handy list, you can check out the names provided by Reuters.

But how did they get sucked in? It's easy to see why.

First, Madoff was a former chairman of Nasdaq and he had portrayed himself as a champion of transparency. As Monica Gagnier in BusinessWeek notes, there is a profound irony here.

Secondly, he generated steady returns with an average annual rate of 11%-13%, year in and year out, with little volatility. As Walter Hamilton at the Los Angeles Times notes, that in itself raised red flags. But then, hindsight is a wonderful thing. It's easy to write that when you see things through the "retrospect-oscope".

And finally, there is the image Madoff himself presented to the public. The claims he makes on his website are cases in point. Madoff made sure he presented an image of impeccable integrity.

As his website says: "In an era of faceless organizations owned by other equally faceless organizations, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC harks back to an earlier era in the financial world: The owner's name is on the door. Clients know that Bernard Madoff has a personal interest in maintaining the unblemished record of value, fair-dealing, and high ethical standards that has always been the firm's hallmark."

And as the New York Times notes, he was regarded as a great philanthropist, pillar of the community and totally trustworthy. As one investor told the NYT: "The pain is just unbelievable. He was part of the family for so many people. There was this quiet culture of people, slightly older-money, who maybe weren't that interested in the market, who kept saying to each other, 'Just give Bernie your money, you'll be fine.' "