Do you like to mess with cold callers when they phone you? (Assuming they aren't bots)

My number is on the Do-not-call list so anybody who calls me is doing so illegally or, more often, is a scammer trying to separate me from my money. Whether I play with them depends on my mood. Sometimes I try to keep them talking or waiting while I put the phone down and go about my business; sometimes I just hang up on them.

But the ultimate telephone prankster is Tom Mabe and this one's a classic:

I usually just hang up, or I tell them it's a scam, then hang up

I just hang up, the do-not-call-list is a joke.

If it is a scammer I mess with them.

I had one guy call and tell me he was from Publishers Clearing House and I had to wire him $549.00 from Walmart western union to claim my prize. I told him I am really old and I had to have him repeat every thing over and over to make sure I got it right. He said drive there and he would stay on the line with me until I completed the transfer and a UPS truck would meet me back at my house with a briefcase full of money. I kept this fool on the phone for over an hour until I asked for names in quick succession and one was .....Stahlling . I asked "how do you spell that? Stalling ....Like stalling for time?"

I  say thank you for calling and immediately I started singing, several different songs.

No. I got a new home phone a few months ago when I moved and immediately put the new number on the do-not-call list. However it takes 30 days for the do-not-call list to be updated. I have an answering machine so I can screen my calls. It starts off telling the caller if they are selling something to hang up because I do not want or need whatever they are selling. The message than goes on to tell family members to leave a message and i will call them as soon as I find the phone. 

Depends on what mood I'm in at the time I guess. I mostly just hang up except for the ones that say they work for Microsoft's Tech department and I have virus! I play along with them and pretend I'm typing in what they say to do and when they ask what I see, I tell them : Not a darn thing because you're nothing but a darn scammer. They get mad then when they think they've got you! I'm on the no call list also and I haven't seen much difference !

I usually politely tell them that I'm not interested and hang up. They are just people trying to make a living, even though they are annoying as he!!.

cnet asked this question recently---lots of interesting responses from the cnet community.  You can probably find that question on their site---quite a few interesting answers.

Recently I checked the internet to see what advice might be there as to how to handle such calls.  One source said that he was such a caller and gave some suggestions on how to handle such calls.

Here's his broad picture.  Answer, but don't engage.  Why: Answering and not engaging tells them you are there but also a dead end and a waste of time.  If there is only a recording on the line, the recording will normally give you an "opt out" choice for future calls.

If it's a live person, simply say "I will not discuss any of the subject matter of this call" and keep repeating that.  If the caller asks "Why don't you want to discuss it?" simply put the phone down.  (Hanging up on a live person, just confirms that the number his has just reached you on will be answered and he is more likely to call back.)

After about 2 or 3 minutes, you will hear the dial tone.  Then you simply hang up the phone.

Very effective.