"Hello madam, we are pleased to inform you that you are eligible for a free gold credit card from our bank."

~"Good afternoon sir, are you looking to avail of a personal loan?"

~"Would you be interested in switching to our mobile network? We have a host of new benefits to offer customers, including..."

Which of us hasn't been plagued with annoying sales calls in recent years?

Everyone is fed up of them and while we are continually hearing about laws intended to curb such unwelcome advertising, we continue to remain at the receiving end, right?

So some Internet prankster came up with a number of humorous ways to get back at annoying telemarketing executives and has been circulating them through e-mail -- for those of you who haven't seen them yet, here they are!

10 fun ways to stop annoying telemarketing calls:

1. After the telemarketer finishes speaking, propose marriage to him/her.
 
2. Tell the telemarketer you are busy at the moment, and ask him/her, to give you his/her home phone number and cell number so you can call back maybe very late at night.
 
3. Keep asking the telemarketer to tell you his spiel all over again. Do this several times.
 
4. If you receive a call during a meal, tell the telemarketer that it's lunch time, but ask him/her to hold. Switch to loudspeaker mode and eat your food in a languid noisy fashion, chomping away and continuing with the conversation.

5. Tell the telemarketer that all business goes through your representative, and hand the phone to your five-year-old.
 
6. Say that you are hard of hearing and that he/she needs to speak up -- louder -- louder -- louder!
 
7. Tell the telemarketer to speak really really slowly because you want to write every word down.
 
8. If the telemarketer starts off with "How are you today?", say "I'm so glad you asked, because no one these days seems to care, and I have all these  problems..."
 
9. Cry out in astonishment, "Johnny, is that you? I've been hoping you'd call! How is the family?" When he/she insists it's not Johnny, refuse to believe it and say, "Stop kidding me!" This works especially well if the telemarketer is female.
 
10. Tell the telemarketer to call at your office number and give him/her the number of a rival telemarketing organisation instead!

You've probably been harassed by sales calls at one time or other -- how did you deal with them? Got any more fun tips on how to set those pesky telemarketers straight? Share your experiences and advice with us right here!