You want me to make up something nice to make everyone’s day delightful? I didn’t make this world.

Nah I call bullshit. This is not how the world works. You don't needlessly waste people time. If you have decided to move on to other candidates, you inform the person rather than just leave them waiting on an unanswered zoom call. This extremely unprofessional. This is how you're organization get's a bad reputation. Burning bridges is particularly stupid, when a simple email would suffice.

"Bad" and "just how it works" are not mutually exclusive.

Are you saying you've experienced this or know people who have?

Personally I have not experienced this or know anyone who has (I'm in EU if it matters).

In response to the original post: In each case you refer to a recruiter. Is this an external recruiter (and always the same one) or an HR person at the company you wish to work for? If it is (an external recruiter) then I can imagine it being something that has little to do with you (Maybe the recruiter is requesting advance payment or unreasonable amounts, demanding all further communication go through them to ensure they get paid/have evidence of having "recruited" you, have terms that say they get paid if an interview takes place or whatever).

If that is not the case it seems odd to me that you wouldn't simply get some kind of message along the lines of:

"We are sorry for your inconvenience but we have already filled the position in question. The interview will no longer be necessary."

[edit]: clarification