Rugby League bad boy Paul Carter is again in the headlines for the wrong reasons with a fan claiming he was scammed out of more than $5000 by the former NRL player.

Luke Phillips is an avid collector of NRL shirts and says he paid thousands to Carter on eBay for several of his playing jerseys, however, the ex-Gold Coast, Roosters and South Sydney forward failed to send them.

Incredibly, after Phillips contacted Carter about the whereabouts of the shirts, the disgraced NRL player admitted it was a scam and that he was going through a difficult period.

Three of Phillips’ four children have autism, with the NRL fan collecting the shirts for his kids who he says love looking at the colours and the logos.

Phillips claims to have previously collected one of the Jerseys from Carter's house, having a polite chat with him about his career before leaving with the shirt.

However, after purchasing more of his tops online, they never arrived and Phillips became suspicious after paying $1200 for an Auckland Nines shirt, only to see the same jersey on sale from a third party.

"Well I managed to contact the third party and he told me Carter gave him strict instructions to sell it to anyone - except me,” Phillips told nine.com.au.

"I knew something wasn't right but to actually hear that left me stunned. Carter knew I had already paid $1200 for it so he was trying his best to avoid me at every opportunity.

"Eventually I did manage to contact him and he explained that he was struggling to pay his bills, something you don't expect to hear from a professional athlete."

Things got worse from here, with Carter explaining his situation via messenger and asking Phillips to lend him money to pay for his electricity bill.

Phillips took pity on him, with screenshots on the nine.com.au website showing the exchange of messages in which Carter almost begs the NRL fan for the money.

"To live... I have 657 dollar electricity to pay," said the first of a series of texts from Carter. "I know it's not your problem mate, I'm just being completely open and honest with you.

"Like I know it's big to ask but if you could spare 1200 or 1000 bucks I will send through my debut, nines, Roosters debut and Superman (jerseys) today.

“That's honestly how tough I'm doing it. I know it's big to ask after how much you have helped me but my electricity is going to be switched off.”

False promises

Phillips felt genuinely sorry for Carter and told him he would lend him some money, taking out a $2000 loan and sending it to the 25-year-old.

However, it became quickly apparent to Phillips that he would never see the money again when Carter was sacked by the Sydney Roosters following a charge by police for supplying cocaine.

Phillips contacted all parties but was unable to be reimbursed with the money, saying he felt fooled by Carter who lured him into a false sense of security.

Thankfully, the avid shirt collector has benefitted from the generosity of other NRL stars since with Bryce Cartwright, Josh Papalii, Luke Keary, Wade Graham and Ken Sio all sending overtraining and playing gear at no cost.

Phillips stated he went public with the story in the hope nobody else would be tricked by Carter’s cruel actions, but thanked the players mentioned above saying they have restored his faith in human nature.