Yes, there is a risk. Last year, I was scammed by a company in California. Not a lot of money, but it still made me angry. But I'm not worried, because it was only one out of a lot.
It sounds like this is probably something I shouldn't risk without at least a month's financial buffer?
But in any case, you can lower the risk of getting scammed by asking for initial deposits. I always do that. Did it with the company that scammed me and I wasn't totally fucked. I lost about 60% of the total of the project, but not a 100%.