Bakersfield Police are warning the community about IRS scams that are common around this time.

The IRS says that people across the nation have lost millions of dollars along with their identities as a result of these scams.

Police say that scammers use mail, phones and email to set up people and businesses and warns that even if you see "IRS" on your caller ID you should be careful about what you say until you confirm the identity of the person you're speaking to.

The IRS doesn't request personal information via email, text messages or any social media platforms and will never request payments via gift cards.

Police say that scammers have told people that if they don't send gift cards to things like iTunes, for example, that they will be arrested and this is not true.