Turin police are investigating a man who allegedly posed as the Italian former footballer Andrea Pirlo to fleece expensive clothes and other luxury goods from stores.

Police said that Alessandro Palazzolo, 48, only bore a “vague resemblance” to the former Juventus and Italy star and that it was his power of persuasion that managed to dupe shopkeepers. Palazzolo, a former goldsmith, never went to any of the targeted stores – his entire scam was allegedly concocted over the phone with the help of an accomplice.

“Palazzolo has longish hair and a beard that is similar to Pirlo’s, but that’s as far as the similarity goes,” Carlo Ambra, the chief of the Turin unit of Digos, the police squad that deals with cases involving organised crime and terrorism, said.

“But he was successful in building a relationship with the retailers over the phone, copying Pirlo’s accent too.”

Digos only began its investigation, which is ongoing, when the real Pirlo filed a complaint to police via his lawyer after being contacted by shopkeepers asking him to pay debts that he did not rack up.

Pirlo had been made aware of at least five instances in which his identity was used to “purchase goods”, including thousands of euros’ worth of suits.

Palazzolo is also alleged to have contacted Pirlo’s doctor to try to get a medical examination and pretended to be the footballer’s brother during a gala dinner.

The first time he embarked on the alleged scam was two years ago, when he called a shop in Turin and introduced himself as Pirlo. He tried to order a watch, saying his assistant would collect it later, but was thwarted by the prudent shopkeeper. The same scam was more successful at luxury stores in Brescia and Naples, with an assistant collecting the ordered items and saying the “footballer” would return to settle the bill.

“He created a story around being Pirlo, talking about his children and other things,” said Ambra. “He began by ordering small items, which his assistant would collect and pay for. Then he would order expensive goods at the same shop, without paying for them. By that time he had managed to build confidence that he was really Pirlo.”

Police managed to identify Palazzolo, who they say has committed similar crimes in the past, after tracing the phone number from which the calls were made. He is yet to be arrested.

The scam came to light four days after an Italian man who posed as actor George Clooney, to promote a clothing label, was arrested in Thailand after six years on the run.

Clooney sued Francesco Galdelli, 58, and his accomplice, Vanja Goffi, 45, in 2010 and the pair were convicted by Italy’s supreme court in 2014.

But, by that time, they had fled the country. The couple were arrested at a luxury villa in the Thai city of Pattaya on Saturday.