Artist's approximation of the O'Fallon, Missouri muggings in question. (credit: Charlie / Sam Machkovech)
Pokémon Go's Wednesday launch on iOS and Android has proven a rousing success for franchise creator Nintendo and app developer Niantic, with the app rocketing (Team Rocketing?) up every major download and top-grossing chart. With arguably the biggest augmented-reality gaming audience ever in the West, the game is attracting a lot of attention, including good stock-related news for Nintendo—but it has also already proven ripe for exploitation of its players.
In particular, one major social aspect of the game—its "beacon" function—has already been taken advantage of in the city of O'Fallon, Missouri. That city's police department made a statement on Sunday morning confirming that a group of four armed men had used the app to lure victims to a specific place, at which point they mugged the unknowing Pokémon Go players.
The statement mentioned similar robberies taking place in neighboring St. Louis and St. Charles counties. A Gizmodo report received a statement from O'Fallon's police department, stating that "about eight or nine people" were targeted by these muggings in all.
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