BATU PAHAT, MALAYSIA - A 25-year-old con man has been detained after duping more than 10 victims by posing as a policeman and stealing their cash and cellphones.

The suspect, a drug addict, would flash several badges and even wore a blue beret to fool his victims, mostly women, in the past year.

He would confront the victims and tell them that they had committed a certain offence.

The man would then demand cash and cellphones in exchange for clemency.

His luck finally ran out when police managed to track him down at a house in Parit Raja here and arrested him at 1pm on Thursday.

Batu Pahat OCPD Asst Comm Ibrahim Aris said the badges used by the suspect were not police badges but of other units such as the air force and navy.

"We recovered four cellphones, believed to be stolen," he told a press conference yesterday.

ACP Ibrahim advised the public not to be easily fooled by anyone claiming to be a policeman and that they should demand to see the person's authority card.

The Star/Asia News Network