It is reported that tons of trainers have been experiencing a minor loophole allowing Pokemon Go players to be at specific locations without actually being there. We do not associate this as GPS spoofing, which currently is receiving Niantic's ban hammer, because the loophole does not require hacks or tools to spoof GPS locations.

Is it 'legal'?

Technically, this loophole has to do with your carrier, which you do not have control of, and as stated above, no modification software or hardware is required to perform this.

Many trainers have been reporting a small loophole that allows you to be at a specific location without actually being there. Before you think GPS spoofing, this loophole does not require any sort of hack or GPS tool to do. PokemonGoAssocation.com thinks that this nifty trick is completely fine, it's not hacking or anything that is illegal - well not yet, considering Niantic Labs enormous efforts with regards to what they can consider as cheating in Pokemon Go.

This loophole has to do with your phone being able to switch your built in GPS settings which is completely fine. It's a bug on Niantic's part and nothing hacky or illegal.

Okay, let's get started

Reddit's Isantum demonstrates how he turns his mobile data off and then changes his GPS setting to 'device only' so that he will be on the 'same location' before in a specific day. Application-wise, you can use this technique to be at a gym, or at a lured Pokestop, even if you are not there physically.

Here are his steps, remember try this at your own risk.

So, I'll try to keep it quick and short.

Legend

A = Home aka place of residence

B = Gym 900m away

C = 2 Pokestops 300m away

Case

I leave A at 6PM, play for about 3-4 hours and when my battery is down to 10%, I turn off mobile data and put my phone into flight mode, usually when I am at points B or C

Once I get back to A, and my GPS is on high accuracy, I stay at point A. If I turn the GPS to Device Only, I am at points B or C, depending on where I switched off mobile data. This can be done just about anywhere and the game registers it as an accurate location.

I'm not sure if this is due to my carrier, but I can see a lot of people taking advantage of this to be near gyms or pokestops in game while they are at home. 

Taken from: 

GPS Based loophole in the game. from TheSilphRoad

This method has worked for many Pokemon Go players, but it does not work for all. I am thinking that this is a carrier issue, or a client to server communication bug. Whatever it is, if Niantic Labs focuses on this issue and consider this as 'illegal' then it's bye bye technique for us.

Did this method work on your phone? Leave a comment below and let us know!