Fake Whitesnake Drummer Cons Elderly Man Out of Thousands

Getty Images

Scott Travis may not be an honest man, but he is clever. When the English conman tried to pass himself off as a rock musician, he didn't claim to be some superstar lead singer. That might have gotten him caught. Instead, the Daily Mail reports, he told relatives he'd written songs and played drums for Whitesnake.

That might have explained how Travis -- a guy from a working-class background -- and his girlfriend were able to take fancy trips to places like Monte Carlo. In fact, he wasn't burning through money earned with singer David Coverdale's long-running British hard-rock act. According to the Mail, Travis was living off of an elderly man he cheated out of some £100,000.

In addition to saying he was a member of Whitesnake, Travis, not to be confused with the legit drummer of Judas Priest, told his victim that he was an Italian viscount -- a kind of nobleman -- and indicated that he needed money to cover cancer treatments and pay off debts.

"At first the man didn't object," a prosecutor said in court. "He was happy to help somebody ... but the demands kept coming."

Travis apparently used the swindled money to pay for plastic surgery. It's a sad story made all the sadder by the circumstances of Travis' childhood. He grew up believing his grandmother was his mother and his mother -- who'd given birth to him at 15 -- was his sister. When he learned the truth, he was devastated and changed his name from Paul John Marsland to Scott Travis.

It's unclear whether he meant to reference the Judas Priest drummer of the same name.

Watch Whitesnake's 'Love Will Set You Free' Video

Watch Whitesnake's Doug Aldrich's Guitar Challenge Video

Follow @Noisecreep on Twitter | Like Us on Facebook | Sign Up for Our Newsletter

Download Whitesnake Songs | Buy Whitesnake Albums