More than a dozen Wells Fargo employees fired after 'keyboard activity simulation' allegations

While the pandemic popularized working from home, it seems this particular setup comes with its own dangers.

Bloomberg reports that Wells Fargo fired more than a dozen workers last month after it was discovered they were faking work. Those employees, all of whom worked with the firm's wealth and investment management unit, were “fired following a review of allegations involving simulating keyboard activity creating the impression of active work.”

These simulators, often called “mouse jigglers” or “mouse movers,” became popular during the work-from-home era of the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw offices shift to remote work out of necessity.

“Wells Fargo holds employees to the highest standards and does not tolerate unethical behavior,” a company statement read.

However, it is not clear from the submissions made to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority whether the fired employees were fired for falsifying work. This could be one of the many reasons why so many offices, especially the financial sector, were so adamant about asking employees to return to the office after pandemic restrictions were lifted.

It was also unclear how much time the accused employees were actually spending off the job, whether they were missing deadlines, mismanaging funds, and so on.

This could be another step in Wells Fargo's attempt to rehabilitate its image, after a massive financial scandal that shook public confidence in the business.

In 2016, it was discovered that bank employees had been opening fraudulent accounts, millions of them, in order to artificially meet sales targets set by management. Customers who fell victim to this illegal practice had no idea their information had been used to open these fake accounts, and it wasn't until 2023 that a former head of retail banking was finally sentenced to three years jail after pleading guilty to obstruction. The former CEO of Wells Fargo was also pushed out of the industry.

Since the scandal broke, Wells Fargo has been forced to pay billions of dollars in criminal and civil settlements and still faces difficulties in 2024.

In February 2024, were sued again by a woman who claimed the bank didn't do enough to help her and other victims who had been enrolled in services they neither asked for nor wanted. Amanda Gonzales accused employees of giving her the go-ahead after she was told it was her duty to contact the bank if she wanted to reverse the fraudulent enrollment, which in her case was insurance that covered accidental deaths.

“Wells Fargo is relying on the discreet and suspicious nature of the letter to reduce claim rates, shifting the burden on the customer to take steps to dispute an 'enrolment' that Wells Fargo knows to have been,” says the complaint it initiated the class. demand for action. Shifting the burden to the customer allows the bank to “avoid, reduce and delay its ultimate liability and sweep under the rug its long-standing willful misconduct.” The lawsuit seeks a $5 million payout for those who received the letters.

Writer/Columnist

Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for truth in a world of fake news has brought her to BizPac Review.

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