Pokemon Go Allegedly Soft Banning People for GPS Issues
Pokemon Go is allegedly coming down hard on people who 'spoof' their GPS to show themselves in a [...]
Pokemon Go is allegedly coming down hard on people who "spoof" their GPS to show themselves in a different location, although the bans might also be affecting innocent people. A recent post on Reddit's Pokemon Go page seemingly confirmed that Niantic Labs was monitoring GPS activity and issuing temporary bans for those who might be faking their location.
At the heart of the issue is GPS spoofing, a way for users to trick Pokemon Go into thinking their phone is in a far off location. Some users use GPS spoofing (in conjunction with services like Pokevision) to go to areas where Pokemon are much more plentiful. Niantic has been aware of the cheat and seems to be issuing out temporary bans to anyone that might be cheating the system. When a player is hit with a temporary ban, they can't interact with PokeStops or gyms and all Pokemon will automatically run away after the first PokeBall throw.
The only problem is that some players claim that Pokemon Go also bans players that aren't trying to cheat the system. Players have also reported getting a soft ban for taking a phone call while driving, which automatically shuts off a phone's GPS. When the phone call ends, Pokemon Go will automatically "jump" to the player's new location, causing Pokemon Go to think that the player is trying to cheat the system. Other players have reported getting soft bans in areas with spotty GPS service (causing players to jump around in the game) or just for shutting off their phone's GPS while driving.
Luckily, these soft bans only last for a few minutes at a time, so this seems to be more of an inconvenience than an actual issue. The best way to prevent soft bans in Pokemon Go is to not try to not GPS spoof, play in areas where your phone has a strong GPS, and not play Pokemon Go and drive.
