truthfinders.com

How do people search sites ACTUALLY work? Hi all, I'm wondering how and where people search sites like truthfinders.com etc get their information, and how legit the information found is. I know this question gets asked often, but I have a unique story, so please give it a read. Long story short, I discovered a case of identity theft and learned about the email address that was used. All of this was very coincidental. This email address appears in almost all people search sites with some times the same first and last name as me (my name is common like James Smith) but more often in different last names (same first name). It also has the age off by over a few years. The email address also is consistently tied to the same physical address and phone numbers (none are mine and the phone numbers are small business (think shops, salons, restaurants etc)). I have found one site that had some outdated info about me that tied me to this email and physical address but that's pretty much it that relates me back to this email address. This email address So my question is what's the implications of this? Does this mean that there is someone is living with my name or parts of my identity? Is this a real person? They appear so consistently over these sites. I'm really stressed and freaked out and would appreciate any info on where these sites get their info, and if it's possible that this is a real person, and something's been messed up. tl;dr: is the info on people sites most likely real people or can it be a product of identity theft?