>>>I get at least a dozen a day.
>
>Wow.
>
>I have a little game whenever Microsoft or a rep from the wrong ISP with strong foreign accent calls to help me with all the malware that has taken over my internet connection: I see how long I can maintain the conversation answering only "Yes" with varying cadence. Try it: usually I get all the way to "what sort of computer is it sir - PC? Mac?" before "yes" fails to deliver. Even then I can sometimes keep going if they ask closed questions. So I get a few moments of mental distraction/amusement (since small things amuse small minds) and who knows, perhaps their wasted minute/s spares another victim...

I did those things for a while, but they just increased my annoyance.
They still annoy me but ignoring them seem to work best for me.