A burly male influencer accused of selling a young woman a pair of fake iPhones made from clay has been seized by police in Brazil.

The 31-year-old singer, known as MC Dugaaoo to his 300,000 Instagram followers, offered two iPhone 15 Pro Max models for BRL 13,000 (GBP 2,014).

A 36-year-old woman, who came across the ad on an online marketplace, arranged to meet Dugaaoo and both phones were presented in genuine Apple boxes.

But when she tried to open them, reports local media, he said he had a gun and ordered her to transfer the cash via Brazil’s instant payment platform PIX to a third-party account.

When she opened the boxes, say police, inside she found two broken clay models of the phones.

Dugaaoo was arrested in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais State, on 25th April suspected of extortion aggravated by threats at gunpoint.

Police video footage of the phones shows two broken clay models of iPhones apparently made with a mould inside what seem to be genuine Apple boxes.

Police spokesperson Gabriel Teixeira said: “Upon arrival, the seller presented the two devices in the original product box.

“The victim wanted to check the contents of the box, and at the moment she tried to open it, the suspect threatened her, claiming to be armed and demanding that she transfer the amount of BRL 13,000 [GBP 2,014] via PIX.”

Police traced the PIX account to the singer’s family home where he was arrested.

Teixeira added: “It is noteworthy that the suspect has a large number of followers on social media.

“We can call him an influencer, and this undoubtedly gives a certain credibility to this business he tried to negotiate with the victim, which was later discovered to be a criminal offence.”

The police have asked other possible victims of similar scams to come forward to file complaints.