I applaude you all. You've gotten pretty creative in handling this annoyance.
For some time we've been getting up to 10 calls/day saying "This is your mortgage company, _____________. Before we can continue we need to verify some information. What is our name? What is your mortgage number." I've told them, "Since you called me, prove to me you are who you say you are." They have no way of doing this, even is it is a legitimate call. So I tell them, send me a letter. Eventually we sent a cease and decist letter for phone calls and to only contact us by posted mail. Which they never did. We needed this info, but when we tried to call back, that person was always on the phone & we got put on hold for an indefinite period of time. Finally talked with supervisors only. Now there seams to be some kind of law to reduce missed payments so it doesn't go into foreclosure. Same kind of call. What illogical idiot politician made such a law that gives identy theives and scammers an automatic entrance into private records.
As to auto dialers, etc., if there's no one on the line when I answer, I don't want to talk, wait, listen and can't talk back anyway, so I hang up immediately. If it's anykind of unsolicited call, I interupt, say, "Not interested, by" and hang up immediately. We get very few calls. We've been on the DNC list for years. we don't give out information ever, always, don't donate to anything beyond our Church, membership lists write, DO NOT PUBLISH, next to email address and cell phones.