Hundreds of Lil Wayne fans were left fuming after a phony promoter tricked a nightclub into advertising a fake gig by the rapper.

More than 700 people turned up at Club Illusions in Alabama on Saturday night, only to find the star was a no show.

And the club's manager has now revealed the gig was part of an elaborate scam by a bogus concert promoter, who promised a gig by the Lollipop star and then allegedly disappeared with over $45,000 from ticket sales.

Manager Esa Jones admits that all the club officials were fooled by the man, who identified himself as Tony Lee and claimed to be a representative for Coastal Boy Entertainment.

She says, "We got scammed real bad. It looked planned, they printed tickets, had radio advertisements, ticket locations, it looks so legit."

A police investigation has now been launched into the alleged fraud.