There are multiple reasons as to why someone would run a background check on another person. Everything from an employer making sure that the person they are hiring is going to be an asset or rob them blind over the years, to finding out who your new neighbour is and what they might have done in the past that got them into trouble is possible.
So, you can keep an eye on you and your own family just in case. There are plenty of reasons, but how does someone run a background check?
In the past, you had to hire a professional investigator to snoop around and run a criminal background check through the police department. You paid some exorbitant amount of money to get a small file with a few sheets of paper that said this person is good, or bad.
Those days are slipping into the past as the internet has become the new private detective for the general population. There are sites out there that can run background checks for you and you don't even have to get up from your comfortable chair to get the answers.
You might even want to run a background check on yourself just to make sure that the information provided is accurate. If you find errors in this information, you will be given the contact information of the people so that you can clear any errors up in a timely manner. This can end up saving you a job or even a loan if the lender has ran a background check on you. The online services will usually have a fee involved, be wary of sites that do this stuff for free.
Before you even go to one of these background services, you can try using your favorite search engine to do some research on the person you want to check up on. Almost everyone in the world is tied to the internet in one way or another and doing a search online can give you valuable information without costing you a single penny. You can also go to the county records in your area and find out all kinds of information, but this might cost a fee.