When North Carolina-based writer Pat Brothwell received a message request on LinkedIn from a New York matchmaker, he initially thought it might be a scam.
Instead, Brothwell said the sender, Marin Haugo, invited him to discuss potential matches through Maar Dating Club NYC. During their meeting, the matchmaker appeared to have done little research into his background.
“It felt like when a headhunter contacts you, and they just did a very cursory search,” Brothwell told Fortune. “She didn’t actually look into it because all her clients are based in New York. I live in Asheville, North Carolina.”
Brothwell said the matchmaker reassured him that distance wouldn’t be an issue, and suggested he fly to New York for dates if necessary, a comment that made him suspect her clients were in “different tax brackets” than most.
“There was a weird angle of, ‘I have wealthy clients, and I’m gonna try to find someone who’s just excited to date somebody wealthy,’” Brothwell said. “Everything just felt like it was maybe a little bit more than met the eye.”
