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Because the middleman is not just any middleman, it's someone in your network, who is vested in you having a good experience so that you continue to be valuable to them and vice versa. The middleman will do some due diligence before recommending two people to each other.

If my friend sets me up with a scam artist, they’re at risk of to losing a friend - and potentially be ostracized by their entire social network for it. So they’re a lot less likely to recommend a scam artist, because they have skin in the game.

Same if they set me up on a date with their friend who ends up being abusive.

This makes sense. Every person I have dated was via my social circle or someone we had mutual friends with. I don't date a complete stranger with zero connections.