You're right - you're not only on a list but they will sell the list multiple times and sooner or later (probably sooner) you'll be deluged with calls because you verified that the number is active. What people don't understand is just the fact that someone answered the phone is sometimes enough. Worse, is when you answer and then answer any of their questions - even if it's only one question.
In some cases, the caller already knows enough about you to piece together another piece of the puzzle. You are not being "profiled" and they aren't taking random surveys. They are putting your personal ID information together which is valuable as a commodity and equally valuable to the crooks. Don't answer the phone to an unidentified caller or from an area code you don't recognize.
And, if you make a mistake and do happen to answer the phone, hang up. Most of us aren't wired to be rude, but you've got to realize these are con-artists - all of them. If you trust them so much, tell them to come to your house and talk to you in person. Believe me, they'll hang up.
On second thought, that's bad advice. Never give out your address, either.
I had a similar experience, but was asked some different questions. Initially they asked if I was being contacted on a cell phone, was asked if I was an adult at least 18 or older who purchased medication for my household and then was asked a few more questions like where I primarily purchase prescriptions, how much on average I spent in the last 3 months on them at the store I mentioned. They then asked if I had spent any money at Fry's/Kroger in the last 3 months on meds, they said they had no further questions and bid me farewell so idk. Kind of a weird call, but the woman I spoke with was clearly Filipino with a thick accent, but she spoke clear enough to be understood. They didn't ask for any personal info like name, address, location etc. Pretty much just those few questions. Could be something fishy, but I didn't give out any personal info (other than my number that they have on file, of course) so we'll see if my phone gets blown up soon. May update if it does, but I'll likely forget this site exists by then.
Want them to stop? Here is what I do. I answer every time, pretend I want to buy, get them to email me, then subsequently have my attorney contact them to either settle or go to court. So far none have chosen court and I have had 11k in settlements the last 3 months, no joke. If you want to make them stop make them pay. Works every time.
Since these people mostly call from out of country, and since the other half are scammers. Your so full of [***] no one on here believes you. For a legit company you can't just sue them for calling. You have to, in writing, contact them and ask they not call again. But if you want to tell lies, I can say that I once grew a tree and it produced dollar bills instead of leaves. And now I have 3 bazillion dollars in tree money. All you have to do is spread a little cow manure on the actual branches for it to produce dollar bills. Scammers are bad enough, but lying idiots are far worse!