Much of the United States is already feeling the Pokémon GO fever, as the highly-anticipated augmented reality game quickly became a compelling reason for gamers to actually explore the outside world. Just like in the Pokémon anime, however, there are also dangers that lurk in the world of Pokémon GO, in the form of Team Rocket.

As it turns out, Team Rocket in real life is a lot scarier than their comic relief anime counterparts. According to O'Fallon Police Department Sergeant Bill Stringer in St. Louis, four armed robbers have been using the highly-popular game to lure their victims to locations where they could be attacked.

According to the Sergeant, the Pokémon GO-related robberies now number 11 incidents, with all the victims in the area being 16-18 years old.

St. Louis police were alerted of the incidents at 2 a.m. on Sunday morning, when officers responded to an armed robbery report at a shopping center. When the officers arrived at the scene, they found the victims unharmed, but robbed of their personal items.

The four suspects were eventually captured by the police, where they confessed that their modus operandi involved taking advantage of people who are using the popular augmented reality game.

Though the full scope of the MO of the suspects is still quite unclear, the four robbers did confirm that they were using beacons in Pokémon GO to attract people to locations where they could be robbed.

"As far as we can tell you can put a Pokébeacon or something on the app and it attracts Pokémon and alerts other players to your location. It's a great app for getting people off the couch, but it can be used for nefarious reasons, also," Sergeant Stringer said.

Pokémon GO has been a massive hit since its release last week. Climbing to the top of the iOS and Android app stores within hours after going live, it is quickly becoming a formidable game for players of all ages. The game utilizes a unique system that allows players to simulate hunting and capturing Pokémon in real life using their mobile devices' cameras. 

Tags: pokemon Pokemon Go pokemon go crime robbery team rocket