System and method for paying a merchant by a registered user using a cellular telephone account

An apparatus to detect a potentially fraudulent transaction, comprising:

• a processor, coupled to at least one memory device, to:
• receive, from a merchant, a record to indicate a payment made to the merchant by a subscriber in possession of a communications device;
• determine, in response to an outcome of a comparison made between the record to indicate the payment and a merchant identifier, a fraud score of the communications device;
• and to
• permit the potentially fraudulent transaction to occur based, at least in part, on whether the determined fraud score is less than a threshold level.