Staff members employed at a residents’ committee in the eastern Chinese city of Wenzhou allegedly used the novel technique to skip work until they were exposed by a whistleblower, the South China Morning Post reports.

Surveillance footage circulated online shows workers using their home-made masks to clock in under various guises.

Most facial recognition systems can’t be fooled with print-outs, but some lower-budget systems are vulnerable to basic tricks.

Chinese government officials are now investigating the scheme, which has been met with a huge backlash on Chinese social media.

Residents’ committees form the lowest level of administrative in Chinese cities and their workers receive a small allowance.