Chinese workers printed colleagues’ faces to trick attendance system and skip work

Chinese workers printed colleagues’ faces to trick attendance system and skip work

Employees at a neighbourhood committee office in Wenzhou City in China’s eastern Zhejiang province were caught wearing paper masks printed with images of their co-workers’ faces to circumvent the office’s biometric attendance system, according to local and international reports. One person could thus check in multiple absent staff members by presenting the fake face mask to the scanner.

The scheme was uncovered after a resident, surnamed Li, informed authorities about suspicious activity at the neighbourhood committee, the lowest level of urban administration in China. Surveillance footage positioned above the facial recognition terminal reportedly recorded the misconduct and showed the printed masks being used to trick the device.

Neighbourhood committees, also known as residents’ committees, play a grassroots administrative role in urban areas and are not formal civil servants. Committee staff typically receive modest allowances rather than full government salaries, but they handle community management, basic public services and local administrative tasks.

It remains unclear how many employees were involved in the scheme or how Li gained access to the footage that revealed the practice. Local authorities have said they will investigate the matter and are expected to provide an official response by the end of December.

The episode triggered a wave of criticism online, with many internet users calling the behaviour unfair and dishonest. Some commentators argued that regular workers who put in long hours, often in demanding conditions, should not have to compete with colleagues exploiting loopholes in attendance systems to avoid accountability. Others questioned whether paper face masks of this kind exploit known weaknesses in certain biometric systems, which can sometimes be defeated by simple physical impersonation.

Facial recognition technology is widely used for attendance and security purposes, but it is not foolproof. Experts have long warned that systems lacking advanced anti-spoofing measures can be tricked by printed images or masks that mimic real faces, a vulnerability that has been documented in multiple contexts.

Whistle-blower Li reported the matter to higher authorities in October and urged accountability for those involved. Public reaction has highlighted broader concerns about workplace integrity and the reliability of automated attendance systems that many organisations rely on to monitor employee presence. A final report on the investigation is expected by December 31, and disciplinary action or system upgrades could follow depending on the findings.