That sounds like a recruiter going off the script. If they're being that direct, turn it around: my salary expectations depend on how I'd fit in at your company

That sounds like a recruiter going off the script. If they're being that direct, turn it around: my salary expectations depend on how I'd fit in at your company, and how much value I'd add. I hope we can talk about that further along in the interview process, but for the sake of not exceeding your hiring budget, please let me know what the salary range is for this position and I will let you know what we'll need to negotiate on to get to an offer which will work for me. The intent here is to negotiate in good faith: if they come back with upper salary that is 75% of your expected, go back with: thanks for sharing that information, in order for me to be comfortable with that compensation I'll have to (ask for extra leave/holiday, part-time hours, work from home, X conference trips per year, stock compensation, 3/6/12 month review with performance targets agreed up front which will bump your salary up).