How this computer mouse technology is behind the US banking major firing employees

“Mouse movers” or “mouse jigglers,” are devices and software that imitate employee activity to show that they are being productive while they are working remotely. According to a report by Bloomberg, US banking major Wells Fargo & Co. fired more than a dozen employees (who were working remotely) in May after investigating claims that they were faking work.The report noted that the bank revealed these firings on “disclosures filed with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.”
As per the filing, these employees who were a part of the bank's wealth- and investment-management unit, were “discharged after review of allegations involving simulation of keyboard activity creating impression of active work,”

“Wells Fargo holds employees to the highest standards and does not tolerate unethical behaviour,” a company spokesperson said to Bloomberg.

However, the Finra filings didn’t reveal whether the Wells Fargo employees who got fired were allegedly faking active work from home.

“Mouse movers” or “mouse jigglers,” devices and software saw a rise during the pandemic era when most companies asked their employees to work remotely. These devices can autonomously move a computer’s cursor or trigger phantom keyboard entries without any human intervention.
The report claims that employees also exchange tips for using such software and devices on social media sites including Reddit and TikTok. As per the report, such gadgets are also available on Amazon for affordable prices.
Many companies use software to monitor these inputs to ensure that remote employees are actually at their computers and being productive. As remote working has continued after the pandemic, these monitoring tools have grown more sophisticated with the ability to now spot the patterns, however random they may seem.
This is not the first time Wells Fargo has charged employees for unethical behaviour. In 2018, the bank investigated employees in its investment bank for alleged violations of its expense policy after they tried to get the bank to pay for ineligible evening meals.