Pokemon Go Targets GPS Spoofers with New Warnings

Pokemon Go's latest crackdown on cheating continues. Earlier today, Pokemon Go sent mass warnings [...]

Pokemon Go's latest crackdown on cheating continues. Earlier today, Pokemon Go sent mass warnings to players who use GPS spoofing programs, warning them that continued use of those programs would result in bans. This is the first time that Pokemon Go has directly targeted GPS spoofers during their various crackdowns against cheaters.

GPS spoofing allows players to trick Pokemon Go into thinking players are in a different location. When used with tracking programs, GPS spoofers can crisscross the globe hunting the rarest Pokemon in a moment's notice. While Pokemon Go can target some GPS spoofers who move from location to location faster than what should be possible, they haven't been able to track spoofers that limit their spoofing to one area.

Although Pokemon Go bans all third party app use, many consider GPS spoofers to be one of Pokemon Go's biggest problems. Spoofers will often use bot programs to automatically re-take gyms and load them up with high IV Pokemon that they obtained from spoofing.

The incentives for spoofing to take gyms have somewhat decreased as of late, as gyms are now much easier for single players to retake and the game distributes coins for holding gyms differently. However, GPS spoofers still bounce from continent to continent to find regional-exclusive Pokemon and play in areas where Pokemon spawns are dense.

The GPS warnings follow a similar new set of bans that unexpectedly crippled all third party apps by tracking automatically created "bot accounts" used to fuel trackers and IV checkers.

As of right now, GPS spoofers have not reported being banned yet, so we'll have to see if Pokemon Go follows through on their threat. Still, it's heartening to see Pokemon Go continue to take steps to rid the game of cheating and put all players on a level field.

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