No, it's not like "The Sting" that won best picture. This time the Oscars did it for real — mounting a sting operation in order to catch people scalping tickets to attend the ceremony in the Kodak Theatre.

"The Academy is suing two companies, Red Baron Records and Millionaire’s Concierge, for selling Oscar ducats without authorization," reports Variety. "The Academy set up a sting operation during which an investigator was able to purchase tickets to the Oscars from Millionaire's Concierge for $23,000 apiece.

"Red Baron, through an Australian company, managed to sell five Academy Awards tickets for $85,000 per ticket. Three of them, according to the complaint, went to people in Denmark.

"Very rich folks from Denmark were not the only trespassers, however. Two people made it into the Oscars with tickets purchased on Craig's List for the relative bargain price of $2,500 apiece. For security reasons, transfer of Oscar tickets is strictly forbidden. "