Players of Pokemon Go are finding themselves targets for robbery
Pokémon Go, as we have been reporting here, is a massive success already, boasting huge sales and quickly becoming a social phenomenon. But there have been some negative aspects to all the excitement – people wandering into unsafe areas, or even discovering dead bodies. Now, a new concern has emerged: according to Business Insider, criminals are using the popular app to easily target victims and rob them. Great.
Apparently, police in O’Fallon, Missouri say they are investigating a series of armed robberies in St. Louis and surrounding counties in which players of the augmented reality game were victimized. Police put out a warning on Facebook after they apprehended four teenagers, aged 16 to 18, inside a car with a handgun while investigating an armed robbery report. The suspects appeared to be using the app to lure players to an isolated location so they could then rob them. The police believe the four had robbed as many as eight or nine people over the past few days.
“The way we believe it was used is you can add a beacon to a pokestop to lure more players. Apparently they were using the app to locate ppl standing around in the middle of a parking lot or whatever other location they were in,” according to the O’Fallon, Missouri police department press release posted on Facebook.
So, bottom line, while you wander your neighborhood in your quest to “catch them all,” just beware that there are people out there looking to catch YOU. Stay safe gamers! In case you have been living in a cave, Pokemon Go is a mobile AR game just released to massive sales – stay tuned right here for news as it happens about this and other titles in the gaming industry.