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People posting their personal cellphone numbers in publicly accessible groups on the social networking site Facebook are opening themselves up to harassment, according to an Internet safety expert.

There are more than 500 groups on Facebook created by individuals who have lost or damaged their cellphones.

Under names such as "Aaron has killed his cell phone" and "Aaaaghhh! I dropped my cell phone in this tide pool!" the groups appeal to friends and family to provide their contact information anew.

Most have lost their cellphones in a cab, during a drunken night out, or have dropped it in the toilet. Some provide a private e-mail address to which numbers can be sent, but others simply allow guests - including many teenagers - to post their information on the group's "wall," which is visible to any Facebook account holder.

Rob Nickel, a former Ontario Provincial Police officer and founder of Cyber-Safety.com, said posting personal contact information online can open individuals up to harassment, bullying and telemarketing.

"Any information you put out there is ammunition for people who want to do some damage, whether it's predators or anyone," he said. "You're going to get some creepy calls, I would think."

Jessica Morton, 19, of Vancouver, posted her number on "James is a clumsy dork and lost most of your phone numbers" group on July 19.

Contacted yesterday, Ms. Morton said she had not received any phone calls from strangers.

"I hadn't really thought about it," she said. "That's the only spot I've ever posted my number."

Ms. Morton said she now plans to remove her number from the group.

Sarah Worley, a 25-year-old who lives in Regina, did not realize her phone number was publicly accessible after she posted it on a group called "Scott Needs Phone Numbers."

The Facebook page was created by a friend of hers from Calgary, and she was one of 61 people who posted their numbers on his wall.

"I've never had anybody I didn't know phone me," she said. "How can you see my page?"

When told that groups are not private, Ms. Worley said she usually keeps her information limited to those who are invited to access her personal page.

"Other than that, the only people who can see my phone number are people I've added to my friend list," she said.

Since its creation in 2004, Facebook has been popular for the privacy promised to its users. Originally created for university students, the social networking group opened its membership to the public in 2006, but users can still choose to keep their profiles private.

Last month, Facebook was in the news after a U.S. state attorney general suggested the site did not do enough to protect its users from sexual predators.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal told Reuters that he knew of "at least three" convicted sex offenders registered under their real names on Facebook.

The site's chief privacy officer, Chris Kelly, told the news agency that Facebook has many privacy features that make it difficult to communicate with strangers through its pages.

But posting on a public group gives strangers access to individual names, photographs, phone numbers and even the town where someone lives or the high school they attend, depending on how their profile is categorized.

This being Facebook, where no group is left unchallenged by another pointing out its stupidity, there is even a group for people who think posting your phone number online is stupid.

One group, with 10 members, asks: "If you want someone's number or they want yours then you should ask ... not make a group every time you and your pitiful self drop your phone into a pool."