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My normal response to all unsolicited calls ("market research", political calls near election time, fundraisers, etc) is to simply say "Not interested, thank you" and hang up, without waiting to hear their response. Short, and to the point.
However, if they are rude enough to call me at dinner time (which is when 95% of these calls seem to come through), then I have no qualms whatsoever about being rude in response to tele-marketers (we're on the "Do Not Call" register, but we still get a few calls), hackers and spam merchants (especially the notorious "I'm from the Microsoft Security department" calls).
Usually, I just hang up without saying a word, but if I'm in the mood (Friday night after a couple of beers for example), I might have a bit of fun at their expense. E.g. chat to them about something entirely irrelevant - the weather, cricket, who do you think will win the Queensland election, and so on. When they start to get annoyed about your time-wasting tactics, they will usually get the message that you are not interested in listening to them either. (I have no idea whether this has any impact in getting your number removed from their register, but at least it gives me some satisfaction!)
When it comes to the hackers and spam calls, see how long you can keep them on the phone while they work through their script and try to help you to resolve the supposed problem - you don't even need to be at your computer for this one, just make up responses as you go. Give them the numbers off an expired Coles or Woolies gift card when the time comes - surprisingly enough, they aren't set up to accept these as payment for their "services"! Or better yet, hijack their spiel and try to get them to help you with another problem altogether. ("I'm so glad you've called - I am having some real problems formatting my Word documents ...")
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