Comment by breakall

Spam detection on my personal email server took a huge leap forward when I got Spamassassin correctly configured to use the DNS blocklists (URIBL, etc.). I had to set up a local DNS server because the blocklists weren't responding to requests coming via my hosting provider's DNS, and the scores had to be tweaked over a few weeks, but now it's working great. The content rules like "hi my dear", "request for money", and "all caps" are still in there, but the blocklists do the heavy lifting.