Niantic Labs has started handing out permanent bans to those who have been caught cheating in Pokemon GO.
On their Twitter feed, Niantic announced that they have begun banning players that they find breaking the game’s Terms of Service. This includes those using GPS spoofing, bots, or other techniques to gain an unfair advantage. You can see a full list of the actions that can lead to a ban here.
#PokemonGO players who @NianticLabs detects breaking the terms of services have begun to be banned.
— Pokémon GO News (@PokemonGoNews) August 13, 2016
Niantic has punished players who were caught cheating before. However, these bans were only temporary, restricting some of the functionality of the app. These new bans, however, will keep who are caught cheating from accessing their account forever. Reports have stated that those who have controlled gyms with high-level Pokemon or have extremely high-level Pokemon that would require an impossible amount of travel were the first to be banned. If you feel that you have been banned improperly, you can submit an appeal using this form.
Niantic are not the only ones banning those they find cheating in Pokemon GO. Twitch has also been suspending or terminating the accounts of those that they find cheating, as it goes against Twitch’s Terms of Service.
Pokemon GO is available now on Android and iOS devices.