Pokémon Go has the world obsessed, but players are urged to be cautious because criminals are using the popular app to lure victims and rob them at gunpoint.

So far, 11 Pokémon Go players have been robbed after thieves used the game to entice and trap their victims, police in the US state of Missouri said.

View photos Pokémon Go has become the top grossing app in the iPhone app store just days after its Wednesday release in Australia, New Zealand and the US. Photo: Supplied/Mel Bleeder More

View photos Pokémon Go allows players to capture, battle, train, and trade virtual Pokémon. Source: AP Photo/Richard Vogel More

O’Fallon Police Department put out the warning on Facebook after the suspects, aged from 16 to 18, were found inside a vehicle while in possession of a handgun, shortly after responding to reports of an armed robbery.

The teenagers are allegedly responsible for multiple armed robberies both in St. Louis and St. Charles Counties.

Officers believe the thieves used bait to attract Pokémon to certain locations and then lured in unsuspecting fans to remote places such as empty parking lots to then rob them.

“The way we believe it was used is you can add a beacon to a pokestop to lure more players.

"Apparently they were using the app to locate ppl (sic) standing around in the middle of a parking lot or whatever other location they were in,” the O’Fallon police department posted on Facebook.

View photos Pokemon Go's loading screen. Picture: Screenshot/Washington Post- Bloomberg More







5 people all trying to catch pikachu #PokemonGO pic.twitter.com/lg8bFXmr9U — mimi newman (@mimi_new) July 10, 2016

Pokémon Go layers gameplay on to the physical world and has became wildly popular after its release last week.

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