A test file that mocked the module it imported, so it asserted the behaviour of the mock and passed after the implementation was deleted.
jest.mock('./pricing') // ← the module under test
import { calculate } from './pricing'
test('applies the discount', () => {
calculate.mockReturnValue(90)
expect(calculate(100)).toBe(90) // passes, always
})
It had been added to work around a slow import chain and had passed for two years including the week the function was rewritten. The general defence is a mutation check or, more cheaply, deleting the implementation and confirming the test fails — which takes thirty seconds per suspicious file and is worth doing after any test that has never failed.