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Wells Fargo, one of America’s leading banks, has taken strict action against employees caught “mouse jiggling” to fake work.

According to media reports, several remote workers were fired after allegedly simulating keyboard activity to give the impression that they were actively working from home. 

Wells Fargo told the BBC that it has strict standards and won’t “tolerate unethical behaviour”.

What are mouse jigglers?

Mouse jigglers are small devices or software programs designed to prevent a computer from going into sleep mode or activating its screensaver due to inactivity.

They work by simulating small, automatic and random movements of the mouse cursor at regular intervals, fooling the computer into thinking that there is user activity. 

How to detect if someone is using mouse jigglers?

1. Check for software and devices on company computers for any unauthorised apps that could be mouse jigglers. 

2. Observe employee responsiveness during work hours. Mouse jigglers cannot mimic human interaction like responding to messages or participating in calls. 

3. Implement certain apps and softwares to track mouse movements and activity. These tools will detect abnormal patterns that could signify the use of mouse jigglers.

4. Educate employees on the risks of using mouse jigglers and implement policies against their use. 

Why do people use mouse jigglers?

Employees use mouse jigglers when they need to keep their computers active during short breaks or interruptions, like bathroom visits or childcare duties while working remotely. This prevents the computer from showing them as inactive or entering sleep mode. 

It also comes in handy when they need uninterrupted time to read documents or complete tasks that require constant access to the file but they do not want their screen to go to sleep mode while they do so.