Don't pay for inauguration tickets!

There are only 250,000 tickets available for the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20, but don't be tempted to pay the big bucks just to get a spot. The tickets are supposed to be free, but sites across the country are trying to scalp them to people who aren't aware, according to Saint Paul Legal Ledger Capitol Report.

More from the Capitol Report:

"We want the public to know that any offer of inauguration event tickets needs to be checked out very carefully," Bert Hubbell, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau (BBB), says. "With so few tickets available, chances of obtaining one are very slim."

Tickets will not be distributed to members of Congress until the week before the inauguration, and they must be picked up in person. Because of the overwhelming number of ticket requests, some members of Congress are planning to distribute them via a lottery system.

On Thursday, Barb Grieman, vice president of the BBB of Minnesota and North Dakota, contacted StubHub (an eBay subsidiary) and was told that it was selling inauguration tickets for between $1,750 and $7,500. When she checked again today, the tickets had been pulled. But, although eBay and StubHub have yanked the dubious offers, they're still out there.

None of the sites claiming to sell the tickets actually have them, according to the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies.

If you are looking to get to the Capitol for the events, groups on Facebook are already helping like-minded people find each other and set up car pools. Check out the Facebook groups and applications here.