The Bottom Line
SpamCatcher combines content filters and a registry of known spam. Unfortunately, the results are not as precise as they could be, and misclassifications can't be corrected on the registry.
Pros
- SpamCatcher is simple and easy to use
- Makes use of the SpamCatcher network as well as Bayesian analysis
- SpamCatcher includes automatic filter updates
Cons
- SpamCatcher filters are not always precise enough
- No way to correct false classifications
- SpamCatcher works with POP accounts only
Description
- SpamCatcher filters POP email accounts for spam.
- Working as a POP proxy, SpamCatcher sits between your email client and the mail server.
- Each incoming message is filtered using a set of scoring rules, which can be updated automatically.
- SpamCatcher can also look up whether mail is known spam in the SpamCatcher Network.
- Based on the score resulting from these actions, mail can be marked in the Subject or by a header.
- SpamCatcher includes white and black lists of friends and blocked senders.
- Additionally, a Bayesian filter is used to classify junk mail based on past decisions.
- A step by step wizard helps you configure Outlook Express accounts for SpamCatcher.
- SpamCatcher supports Windows 9x/ME/NT/2000/XP/Vista.
Guide Review - SpamCatcher 4.0 - Spam Filter
Good old scoring spam filters are nice, but a network that can check each message against known spam in real time is great, too.
SpamCatcher tries a hybrid approach, combining the two. The results are mixed. On the one hand, SpamCatcher does identify a good deal of spam and marks it flexibly in the Subject or in a custom header; working as a POP proxy, SpamCatcher can be used with most email clients.
On the other hand, the filters are not transparent or customizable, and even in combination with SpamCatcher return a number of false negatives as well as false positives.
Unfortunately, you can't submit classification corrections to the network with SpamCatcher. You can, however, use the internal Bayesian filter to improve your results.
