Creating a spam filter

[jpr]

Hi,

So far I've built a really nice class that can parse emails using piping, imap library, and a custom made pop3 library. The class has been working perfectly at reading and retrieving emails from the mail accounts they are set up on.

What I want to do next is start developing a spam filter to add to the class. I'm not sure where to start here. What are some of the basics of recognizing spam emails?

Thanks for your help.

Regards,

Jason

[bpat1434]

Well, basic 1337 language is a good thing to test. I.e.:

Cialis soft Tabs
C1al15 5oft T4b5

Many times, the subject is filled with keywords like hot, teen, Viagra. Also watch out ofr HTML in the subject, or subjects like:

Re[##]:
Re[##]: hi
Re:

~Brett

A few real-world examples of SPAM/Junk:

Human Gr0wth H0rm0ne - We cure any desease! ( Ref: Rocco )

%DROP_COOL%

Looking for PC software? Don’t waste time – visit OEM Software Store.

Shooting Stars st@ck Report Townsend, Robert

angels of p0r|| medically

SU-per Hu^ge 0ffers vr

RE : Approved Load 76du712p44

[jpr]

What is the best way of searching to see if these words appear in the email? I can imagine a large array of suspectible words. That could take a long time to loop through the array and search the contents for each email to see if they contain similar words.

[bpat1434]

There might be other options. Have you searched for any spam filtering scripts or such that would work? I know there are plenty server-side clients that do spam filtering.

~Brett