$1k membership - whoa that's big. I got introduced to Ponsi scheme when I was 15yo or about. The entrance fee was 20PLN (~6USD) or 50PLN, I don't recall which, so the lesson was not as costly.
"if it looks too good to be true, probably is" is a great advice. Few years ago in my country, Poland, there was a bank like organization - Amber Gold offering "risk free" deposits at a good few points higher percentage than competition. It was a big swindle that many people fell for.
Another big red flag there.
There is no "risk free" investment. There is low risk and high risk. Even Bank savings account with very low interest rate have some degree of risk. Very low, but it is there.
Also promised return a lot higher than the rest of the Market is another big flag.
Well... I don't recall the exact wording of Amber Gold's advertisements. I think it was more like a guaranteed profit (just like bank deposits are advertised). The difference is, bank deposits in Poland are guaranteed (up to 100k euro per deposit) by a special governmental fund (in case of bank's bankruptcy). This Amber Gold's product, didn't have the warranty.
But you're right. With the government's warranty or w/o there is still a risk of money being stolen or of large crisis causing damage that no fund would cover, so there are no risk free investments. Cheers!