Recommendation Conundrum

Here is a conundrum for you. Why do people ask you for recommendations and referrals when you have never worked with them? In the last few weeks, I've had several people ask me to refer them; however, I have never worked with or even know these people. I am scratching my head. Aren't you supposed to put your good name behind someone or something you had a positive experience with? How can I give a reference to someone I don't know ... or better yet barely recognize their face? I would imagine if I splatter my name all over the place and provide references for people I've never even met it might dilute the effectiveness of my recommendation. Am I right? So next time you ask someone to put their name behind your own name, maybe you ought to actually know the person. I'm just sayin'.