Very rarely do the worlds of and 'dodgy con-schemes for the gullible' combine, but one analyst has put an interesting new twist on things by describing Second Life as little more than a pyramid scheme, after careful investigation into the economics of the game. So often in the headlines for the vast sums of real money people spend to land virtual real-estate in the game, financial consultant Randolph Harrison believes gamers aren't aware how much money they can realistically make in the game, or how easy it is to withdraw funds from it.

"Like the paid promotion infomercials that run on CNBC, sadly SecondLife is a giant magnet for the desperate, uninformed, easily victimized. Its promises of wealth readily ensnare those who can least afford to lose their money or lives to such scam in exactly the same way that real estate investor seminars convince divorcees with low FICO scores to buy houses sight unseen with no money down," Harrison cuttingly explains.

"SecondLife is not a dramatic taste of our future, in which markets are virtual, currency is free from government control, taxes are non-existent, and normal people can become real millionaires simply by clicking their mouse a few times." "SecondLife isn’t even a simple virtual economy, with legitimate buying and selling, and opportunity for those who would compete."

Harrison explains that in fact only a handful of people are making any real money from the game, and they have been there a long time, with new recruits at the base of the 'pyramid' actually keeping things going in the virtual world. You can read the full report here.

By Luke Guttridge