If you check the transactions to the address then you will see for an inbound tx there is an outbound tx almost immidiatly. This determins this is an address for any online service and I am gussing this is an address from an exchange.
It might be from a gambling site as well, I meet a lot of scammers on telegram daily and most of them are desperate gamblers.
It was a very urgent job besides he even was on my Telegram list from long ago. I warned the employer not to pay him anything upfront but since it was just $30 and the urgency was what mattered, the employer took the risk.
It's really unfortunate that the guy was on your list for a long time yet he scammed, a good thing he couldn't run away with more than 30 bucks.
At the end we wasted time with him. Good thing that a forum member completed the job and he did excellent work.
At least you got the task completed, nice.
I believe anyone who doesn't agree with escrow or doesn't trust you despite you having such a clean record and trusted profile, is either not serious/scammer or just part of the forum at all.