This report is based primarily on interviews that were conducted with a sample of 14 unconvicted economic offenders. The goal was not to test the relevance of Sutherland's famous differential association perspective but to determine whether the behavior and activities of this particular group of law violators fit his model of professionalism. Data were obtained first through an unstructured, open-ended format that gradually evolved into a structured questioning and interviewing tool. Included in the resulting instrument were a series of questions that the author believed would provide definitive descriptive information conducive to both qualitative and quantitative analysis and presentation. The subjects were found to be "credit card fraud masters," in that they were skilled in the art and craft of securing, through unlawful application and deception, any credit card; they willfully and actively engaged in the abuse of these instruments of purchase. The subjects claimed credit card crimes as their major source of income. Eight of the 14 subjects, all males, professed credit card crimes as their full-time occupation. During the interviews, the subjects apparently suffered no guilt or remorse regarding their victimization of others. The observations of and information obtained on the subjects showed that the behavior system of these thieves corresponds to the model outlined by Sutherland. In the model described in "The Professional Thief," Sutherland listed five characteristics of professional crime: consensus, differential association, organization, status, and technical skill. Although the group of credit card fraud masters in this study are not representative of credit card criminals as a whole, the information gained from the subjects provides a point of departure for further study on the status of credit card fraud in criminology, criminal justice, and the larger society. 2 tables and 50 references