It once was that you would have to hire a private investigator in order to get a background check on someone. However, the internet has made the process much more convenient as you can run a background check on anyone from your own desk.

A background check may be done for any number of reasons. Employers may check into the background of prospective hires; you may also be curious about your aunt's new boyfriend.

Some people run a background check on themselves just to see if the information which comes up is accurate. If discrepancies are found, you'll be able to contact the holders of this information to make the needed corrections.

There are plenty of companies which provide this service through their websites. They maintain large databases of information and documents which can be searched through. These records are purchased by the companies in order to build what are databases with information on hundreds of millions of people.

Background checks generally can find information about the following: credit history, criminal record, prior addresses, marriages and other records. A background check can reveal much of a person's life story.

However, these background checks are not usually free. While they are not terribly expensive, these companies charge a fee to recoup the costs of maintaining these databases. However, you can try something else to find some information before paying a fee.

You can try Googling someone first - enter their name (in quotes) followed by the city they live in e.g; "Jane Doe" Boston. Search and you may find some information.

Or you may well find nothing, or at least nothing of value. You probably will see plenty of results about people with identical names though. Obviously this isn't a very targeted search.

The other problem is that the type of background information isn't usually just floating around the net. Court records and criminal histories aren't published for everyone to see. It can be hard to find anything truly informative about the person.

That said, it's worth a try, since this quick search is entirely free.

If Google turns up nothing, then the next step is to locate a company which performs background checks. Make sure they have a money back guarantee, so that you don't have to pay if they can't find the information you need.

You can also opt for a service which lets you perform unlimited background checks for a one time membership fee. This way you can do all of the background checks you need, any time you need to do so.

An online background check is simple, can turn up the information you need and makes you feel like a detective; all without leaving your chair!