If you cheat at Pokémon Go you could be banned... permanently

The relentless popularity of Pokémon Go continues and shows little sign of abating. Despite the threat of privacy issues and malware, millions of gamers continue in their mission to catch 'em all.

But if you were feeling tempted to use one of the various techniques that have been developed for cheating at the game, you might want to reconsider. Developer Niantic is now handing out permanent bans to cheaters after updating its terms of use.

The company says that there are a number of ways in which players can violate the terms of service. These include "falsifying your location, using emulators, modified or unofficial software and/or accessing Pokémon GO clients or backends in an unauthorized manner including through the use of third party software".

In short this means that if you are doing anything other than just using the pure, unmodified version of the game, you run the risk of being blocked from playing forever. You have been warned!

Of course, there will be instances in which banned players feel that they have been treated unfairly. To cater for these cases, Niantic has an online form which you can use to appeal against a ban.

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