Ken Westbrook, founder and CEO of a non-profit organization whose mission is to fight online fraud and scams, will be guest speaker at the May 14 meeting of the Lake of the Woods Democratic Club.
The meeting will take place in Classroom II of the LOW Community Center. The program will start at 1:30 p.m. following a social time beginning at 1 p.m. All are welcome to attend.
The mission of the Stop Scams Alliance is to significantly reduce scams in the United States through a comprehensive, systemic approach involving public-private partnership and cross-sector cooperation from technology, telecom, financial institutions, consumer advocacy groups, and government. The focus is to stop scams at the source, before they reach the consumer in the first place.
According to the Stop Scams Alliance’s web site, there are 21 million fraud victims in the United States each year, costing consumers $196 billion. The average loss per victim is $20,699.
The FBI has reported a 20-fold increase in losses to scams since 2015. Losses ballooned 26 percent between 2024 and 2025.
Westbrook is a Distinguished Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, one of the nation’s most respected nonpartisan think tanks and policy forums.
He served as an executive in the Intelligence Community (IC), specializing in analysis and information management. He received numerous IC awards and subsequently held senior positions with two Fortune 500 software firms, co-invented a patented security technology, and created and taught a course in Information Management at Georgetown University.
Picnic with us on June 19
The Lake of the Woods Democratic Club will hold its annual summer picnic on Juneteenth, June 19, from 5-7 p.m. in Marion Pronk Hall at the LOW Communicy Center.
The program for the event will be a presentation by Shannah Mort of the Orange County African American Historical Society on the “Fried Chicken Ladies,” who sold food through the windows of trains passing through the town of Gordonsville in the 19th and early 20th century.
Tickets purchased in advance are $15 per person, which includes a fried chicken dinner with lots of sides — mac & cheese, potato salad, baked beans, and coleslaw and dessert. They can be purcvhased by cedit card through the link below. Admission on the day of the event will be $20.
Pay your 2026 club dues
Membership dues for the Lake of the Woods Democratic Club are $35 per person for the calendar year. Your 2026 membership is due for renewal on January 1, 2026.
This fee covers expenses of running club events and donations to the campaigns of Democratic candidates supported by club members.
Dues may be paid conveniently online by clicking the “Pay Now” button below or by mailing a check for $35 to The Lake of the Woods Democratic Club, P.O. Box 1351, Locust Grove, VA 22508. If you prefer, you can bring your check to any LOW Democrats’ meeting or event and give it to the treasurer directly.