Whether you meet someone at the grocery store or online, you only know as much about that individual as he or she wants to share. If you pay attention to the news, you’ll hear dozens of horror stories from people who thought they met someone great and later learned that the person was a scam artist, an abuser or even a murderer. The only way you can find out who that person is and what he or she did in the past is with a background check. While paying a private investigator to do that search can cost hundreds of dollars or more, you can do a simple and affordable search yourself online.