In NYC, a lot of mail order fraud was going on in the form of mafia-owned electronics stores selling photo/video/technology stuff - mostly bait-and-switch selling techniques and/or never shipping the items after they've billed your credit card. There was so much of this going on that legitimate electronics retailers were losing huge amounts of business to mob stores that had no intention of delivering the items you order. No-one would go anywhere near those stores - only Adorama and B&H Photo had a good rep in Manhattan.