Bernie Madoff, the man who scammed investors out of more than $60 billion, has died. His Ponzi scheme devastated countless lives, including some on Long Island.

News of Madoff's death at 82 in federal prison was the first Dominick and Ronnie Sue Ambrosino saw on the news this morning. The couple used to live in Bay Shore and now live in Surprise, Arizona.

Ronnie Sue says she invested with Madoff for decades and lost all of the couple's retirement money.

"When you lose your whole life savings, it doesn't matter if it's a dollar or $1 trillion. You just lost everything you worked for your whole life. That was our future," says Ronnie Sue Ambrosino. "That's what we based many life decisions on what is our fiscal responsibility. We were invested with an icon of Wall Street."

"Gone in a flash," says Dominick Ambrosino. "It was a struggle. We did a lot of work."

Ronnie Sue says it took them years before they were able to move forward from being victims of Madoff.

The couple says while Madoff is clearly the central figure in orchestrating the largest Ponzi scheme in history, they did and still do blame the government.

"We felt we were insured. And all of that fell through. The government was not there," says Ronnie Sue. "They didn't live up to their responsibility. And that's where we find fault."

The Ambrosinos say they got back less than 1% of what they lost.