A German tourist was allegedly extorted by a fake police officer for protection against thugs in Pattaya.

Udo Helmut Dei Termann, 77, was reportedly approached by the suspect, identified by police only as 'M', 34, who posed as an undercover cop.

The alleged scammer claimed he worked for Thailand's Provincial Police Region 2, and allegedly threatened the German's girlfriend with bogus drug charges. He demanded 8,000 Baht (180 GBP) in exchange for dropping the fabricated case.

After the payment was made, he then gave the German a police sticker to display at the front of his house. He claimed it would discourage other policemen from investigating him.

Furious Udo filed a report at the police station after his stepson told him the same stickers were being sold at a local festival for just a few pence each.

Footage shows Udo with friends at the police station as he provided information about the fake cop on April 10.

The Thai officer asked Udo: 'He comes to your home?'

Udo answered: 'Before, yeah. He told me that he's police weeks ago.'

The officer asked Udo if he paid the suspect and how much.

Udo said: 'Twice. 8,000 baht, twice.'

The officer clarified the timeline of the alleged extortion and Udo said after he paid, the conman would give him a sticker with printed circular logo and sword claimed to be police insignia.

The suspect was summoned for questioning, but he denied the accusations. He claimed the pensioner had 'only imagined' that he was a police officer.

The alleged conman said: 'I often play football with the police, that's why I had a police uniform with the police logo. It was his fault that he thought I was a cop. I admit he gave me money, but that was only for me to keep teenagers from harassing him at his house.'

Police later released the suspect 'due to lack of evidence'.

Police Colonel Nawin Sinthurat, superintendent of the Bang Lamung district station, said: ‘We do not believe the suspect's claims, but right now we do not have sufficient evidence to detain him.

'We have made a record of the incident and will continue to gather evidence. We will take legal action if we find him involved in any wrongdoing.'

(1 GBP = 43.84 THB)