Been that way in Australia for ages...
Virgin & Cobham - pay to attend an assessment centre (just to be considered for a cadetship, let alone an actual job)
REX - flights and costs associated with attendance at three different stages of recruitment (conveniently spread across three different cities at three different times)
All Airline and Airside jobs - pay for pre-employment medicals, and drug & alcohol testing
But to the OP - yes, $1000 to a recruiter is a scam.