Who has access to your life?

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- You come into contact with a number of people who interact with you and your family everyday: your child's soccer coach, your landscaper or your handyman, to name a few. Chances are they're all on the up and up, but if they’re coming into your home, you should raise the appropriate questions with them.

"There are essentially unhealthy people out there, predators that come into our lives looking like and acting like they're just good-natured people,” said Robert Siciliano, a security expert.

That’s why you need to make sure you know who you’re dealing with. It is important to check out their history.

Background checks aren't just for major companies anymore. With the Internet you can do a check with just a couple mouse clicks - on sites like mybackgroundcheck.com.

"Five years ago, we would maybe do ten or twenty background checks a month. Now we easily do hundreds of thousands of personal background checks a year,” said Robert Mather with the Web site.

Ted Stone, a father, used the service when researching a nanny. It gave him that extra confidence.

"We feel great about getting the background check and if we were to hire another nanny, I would do the exact same thing," said Stone.

It cost Stone about $20, but some reports can run closer to $100, depending on the information you’re looking for.

Jason Morris, with the National Association of Professional Background Screeners said, “You might want to verify if they graduated from college. You definitely want to do a court record check. If they're going to be driving your children, you want to check their motor vehicle record.”

But make sure you are screening the screeners; they shouldn't be relying strictly on database searches. Experts say those searches aren't always 100 percent accurate.

Ask whether those searches are also confirmed.

"When they talk about criminal records research you want to make sure they're going to the courthouse. They're going to the source of information to find out if the person does or does not have a record,” said Morris.

You can always check with your own employer to see who they use. Also check out the company's Better Business Bureau record and get references. And by law you have to get written permission before you do a background check on a potential hire.