"In particular, the perceived anonymity afforded by communications technologies such as email, instant messaging and Internet telephony (VoIP) has led to them being used increasingly by organised crime groups as a countermeasure to law enforcement detection and surveillance," the report reads.

"Even groups regarded as more closely knit than technologically aware, such as Albanian speaking groups, have recognised the value of platforms such as Skype. Social sites like Facebook, meanwhile, are being used by OMCGs (outlaw motorcycle gangs) for networking and communication, and by synthetic drug distributors to contact customers."

Online banking was also providing organised crime groups with the opportunity to move criminal assets quickly across borders while online gambling and in-game currencies of virtual worlds were being used to launder criminal proceeds.

The Internet was also causing an expansion in EU countries of the markets for child abuse material and intellectual property theft, especially for copyrighted audio-visual material and software.

"Child victims of sexual abuse are exposed to prolonged victimisation as a result of the global and continued circulation on the Internet of visual and other records of their abuse, with images increasingly produced to order," the report reads.