It has been a harrowing experience for many since New Year's Eve as cell phone users have apparently received text messages displayed with the year 2016.

Initially thought to be Windows platform specific, instances of non-Windows mobiles receiving bug-affected messages have been found. The bug is now spreading like wildfire with the Bank of Queensland being afflicted. Card scanners have been affected and the bank has rejected most payment cards as they have elapsed the expiry date.

A manual workaround has been set up by the bank, which tells the system to bypass the date.

Various conclusions have been drawn as to why it has exactly happened. Some users have suspected the similarity between '010110' (the binary number for 16) and 01.01.2010 while on the other hand T-Mobile users are supposedly unaffected by this peculiar problem. Possibility of a carrier related technical glitch is looming large.