IMAGE: WWW.THEVERGE.COM
Pokemon GO has been able to have an enormous impact on a lot of players just within a week of its release. Players can already be found roaming the streets in search of the Pocket Monsters, in which they are attempting to make their own. We have also come across some bizarre stories like a man catching Pokemon while his wife is giving birth or a teenager finding a dead body while playing the game in the past week.
Things are now getting more serious and dangerous as O’Fallon Missouri Police Department has issued a statement which states that a group of robbers are using Pokemon GO to tempt some gamers and rob them. The department has posted the statement on their official Facebook page and detailed how the group utilizes the game to commit crimes.
The statement reads as follows:
“This morning at approximately 2 am we responded to the report of an Armed Robbery near the intersection of Highway K and Feise Road. We were able to locate four suspects occupying a black BMW a short time later and recover a handgun. These suspects are suspected of multiple Armed Robberies both in St. Louis and St. Charles Counties. It is believed these suspects targeted their victims through the Pokemon Go smart phone application.
Many of you have heard of Pokemon Go, but for those that have not, it is a type of Geo Caching game where you find and capture Pokemon characters at various locations. If you use this app (or other similar type apps) or have children that do we ask you to please use caution when alerting strangers of your future location.
Many of you have asked how the app was used to rob victims, 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.”
To add to that, even Gizmodo reported that nine players have already been involved in Pokemon GO robberies. The culprits of these cases, however, has been captured and put in custody. The worrying fact here is that the game has been exploited to commit crimes, which can also turn to extremes.
The players will need to be careful while playing the augmented reality game and make their safety the first priority. They also need to be very much aware of their surroundings and take necessary measures so that they cannot be robbed or attacked.