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I'm interested in the mechanics of this because it seems to be a very difficult scam to pull off.

First they need to hack a tradesman's emails, then register a similar domain, then open a bank account in the same name (presumably using some fake ID), then receive the funds and clear them out of the account.

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Seeing the amount of the scam, it does not seem that difficult. Anyone with the knowledge to hack the mail of the tradesman (using software or social engineering) could pull that off. Especially they can try with multiple clients. The most complicated thing is probably to open the bank account with fake information otherwise you could easily be found. It's actually quite brilliant of simplicity I find.

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