How to not get hurt or robbed while playing Pokemon Go
In less than a week the augmented reality game based on the popular Nintendo franchise has pretty much conquered the globe, taking less than 48 hours in the US to double the number of installs Tinder has and matching the number of active daily users Twitter manages in 72 hours. Forbes estimate it may have already added $7bn to Nintendo’s value. It’s becoming so big that NASA now fears the Earth could start orbiting Pikachu rather than the Sun.
You are likely to have seen stories about players getting hurt as they fall down hills, stumbling on dead bodies by rivers or accidentally download hacked versions of the game and handing over bank details and passwords to criminals. This article is here to help you recognise these dangers and hopefully avoid them.
As I type, the game isn’t even available in the majority of the world, but millions of eager players have downloaded APK files of the game from sites to sidestep the release schedule. While plenty of these are safe, there are now versions that take advantage of users disabling security on phones to sideload the app, adding a remote access tools that allow infected phones to be completely compromised. Proofpoint published this helpful article about how to check if a version is legitimate or not via the app permissions. If you have a copy installed from a third party site, it won’t hurt you to check.
The other thing you’ll want to protect is your physical safety. Pokemon can appear anywhere and it’s important to remember that while it may feel like the world has stopped while you to catch that Pidgey, it hasn’t. People, bikes, cars and pets have no idea why you’re suddenly unable to look, walk or think. Here are my top tips about how to not get hurt:
Vibrate mode is a safety essential. When turned on your phone will vibrate when a Pokemon is nearby, leaving you free to walk about with your eyes and wits about you. When your phone does vibrate you can find a safe spot to stop nearby and then check your phone to see what beast has crossed your path. No more wandering about with your phone in hand and eyes on screen, this should stop you falling in ditches and ending up in hospital with a fractured metatarsal.
Be aware of where you are and when you’re there. Four teens were arrested in the USA after luring players to a remote location and robbing them at gunpoint. Another person reported on Reddit that having wandered around his local park at 3am, confused police arrived and questioned him about potential drug dealing.
There’s a time and a place for Pokemon Go, and I strongly recommend that time isn’t 3am and that place isn’t an abandoned warehouse or cabin in the woods. Similar to online dating, a good rule of thumb is you shouldn’t put yourself in any situations that wouldn’t look out of place in a horror film.
Check to make sure your house isn’t a location in the game. Lastly it may be worth making sure your home or somewhere on your doorstep isn’t a meeting point in the game. From personal experience the church across from my home is a featured location in the game and the school a hundred metres further along is a gym where players meet and battle.
You may think that grown adults would know that hanging about outside school gates nervously staring at their phones is traditionally an activity that raises suspicion, but I’ve seen groups out there every day since the game was launched. My home was burgled earlier this year too, but the people gathering over the road from me aren’t aware of that. My neighbours however are fully aware we were burgled but probably don’t know the people hanging out the front are just looking for Pokeballs.
So to recap:
- Don’t sidestep the security on your phone unless you’re 100% sure the app you're installing is safe
- Keep your eyes up and ears open to avoid physical injury
- Don’t go anywhere potentially dangerous on your own
- While wandering about public spaces, be aware that you may seem unusual to the people who regularly live and work there
