An Australian man says he was devastated after learning he had been involved in a high-profile Bigfoot hoax.

Last December, Andrew Clacy left his home in Victoria to join Rick Dyer, a used car salesman from Texas who calls himself the ‘master tracker of Bigfoot.’

Mr Dyer claimed online to have killed the legendary Sasquatch and packaged him in a glass case. He provided a number of images as documentation.

Lying through his teeth: Rick Dyer, posing with the phony Bigfoot he used for the hoax

Andrew Clacy left his home in Victoria last December to join Rick Dyer, in a national tour of America with purported body of Bigfoot

Mr Clacy flew over to join him in an American tour to promote the purported body of Bigfoot.

Dyer had previously been involved in a popular Bigfoot hoax. In 2008, he was exposed by an internet Halloween costumer retailer, who found that one of his costumes had been used by Dyer.

However, Mr Clacy still decided that was an authentic body, Nine MSN reported. He says that throughout the three months he and Mr Dyer toured together, he had no idea that the body was phony, even after physically touching the foot of the animal.

Clacy said 'It felt slimy and like a dog's paw.’

Clacy says throughout the three months he and Rick Dyer toured together, he had no idea the body was phony, even after physically touching the body of the animal

Clacy ended up spending $12,000 touring with Dyer, as well as arriving back home to a torrent of ridicule from his family and friends

In March, Mr Clacy learned that he had Dyer was behind a second Bigfoot hoax when he posted on his Facebook page:

‘Coming clean about everything is necessary for a new start! From this moment on I will speak the truth! No more lies, tall tales or wild goose chases to mess with the haters!’

Clacy returned back home, but not without a serious toll: he was $12,000 out of pocket. He had also damaged his business, and says he was subject to a torrent of ridicule.

‘I was broken-hearted when I came back to Australia,’ he told Nine MSN.

‘I felt like a fool.’

To make matters worse, Dyer has embarked upon an online campaign to boycott Clacy, alleging on his blog that Clacy knew about the hoax throughout the period he was promoting it. He has even allegedly been hacking the Victorian’s emails.

‘He is actively trying to destroy me,’ Clacy said.

The Bigfoot model was eventually sold to the Mr Happy Wellness Centre in Colorado, a medical marijuana dispensary

Clacy says the Texan even brought a phony doctor in to confirm to the them that the beast was real.

'There were much smarter guys than me who believed it,' he said.

‘I thought I was part of something huge, I thought I was going to be part of history.’