[Animal]

You know what works really well for telemarketers. Put them on hold. When they phone and start spewing off, just say "Give me a second, I'll be right back. I'm interested in what you've got to say." I've found that they stick around for about an half hour before getting wise to it. Most incur long distance charges, so it really gets their goat. After about a dozen or so, you'll never get another call from a telemarketer again!
Phone scams are really bad because most are offshore where there's no regulations to phone lines. A buddy of mine got nailed with a phone bill for over $1200 in one month. A guy phones up claiming to be from Telus (local company) wanting him to dial a number to check the line. The dummy did and incured charges of over $150/min. Nice!