I have modified my handling of spam calls. Now, if time and mood align, I will answer the call and if the call is such that it allows for extended "play" I will stay on the line.

This morning one such call that was going to give me a lower interest rate on credit card balances went on for several minutes with some guy obviously in a much different location than the US. He walked me through a number of warm-up questions until we got to the meat of the matter---he asked which of my cards was the one most used--I gave him an answer and then he asked the average balance---I don't carry a balance---so then we were off to number two---with the same dialog. Then I told him I don't carry balances on credit cards and he got indignant----he wanted to know why I was wasting HIS time

He hung up on me

This afternoon I got a call about being overcharged for electric---this one is common---but they keep calling. I played along making the guy---in the same far off land--sure he had a live one. When he asked for my account number I told him I had to go and get a bill----just hang on while I get it it. He did pretty well---he hung on for a little over 3 minutes---about 1 minute over the average

Another trick, for the ones that want to talk to my wife-----hold on I'll get her