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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Robbers have used the popular Pokémon Go [pokemon.com] augmented reality smartphone game to lure victims directly to them. The game has purchasable "Lure Modules" [ign.com] which temporarily attract wild pokémon into an area for players to catch. Businesses can use these to attract potential customers [sunherald.com], and now criminals have gotten in on the action to attract young and naive targets [theverge.com]:

As popular as Pokémon Go has become, that it sends players out into the real world to find Pokémon is creating new, unexpected problems. The O'Fallon, Missouri Police Department reported on Facebook today that armed robbers have used the app to lure victims in and rob them at gunpoint.

The police received reports about the robberies and were able to apprehend four suspects in the area. Apparently, the thieves used the app to set up a beacon at a Pokéstop within the game. Using this method, Sergeant Bill Stringer of the OPD told Motherboard that the culprits were able to rob 11 players, all between the ages of 16 and 18, in the St. Louis and St. Charles counties of Missouri.

From the O'Fallon Police Department's press release [regmedia.co.uk]:

Just before 0200 hours this morning, we received a 9-1-1 from Circle K at Hwy K and Feise Road for an Armed Robbery. The victim, a pedestrian nearby on Feise Road, described four occupants of a black BMW. A responding officer observed a similarly occupied BMW southbound on Hwy K leaving the area of occurrence. The officer stopped the BMW on the CVS lot at Routes K and N, where an occupant tried to discard a handgun out of the vehicle. Four suspects were identified, and taken into custody. Further investigation revealed that there have been similar armed robberies in St. Louis City, County, and St. Charles County MO over the last couple of days with a similar vehicle being described by other victims.

[...] Using the geolocation feature of the "Pokemon Go" app the robbers were able to anticipate the location and level of seclusion of unwitting victims. The suspects range in age from 16 to 18 years of age and all reside in the St. Charles County Area.

Going outside is risky business, kids.

In other news, Android malware has been found [theregister.co.uk] in knockoff copies of the game circulating on third-party stores. The game has only launched in the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand [wikipedia.org], presumably leading the rest of the planet to download trojan horses in their confusion.

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