What happened with NGL
In July 2024 the FTC and the Los Angeles District Attorney settled with NGL Labs. According to the FTC, the app sent users fake messages made to look as if real people had sent them, sold a subscription that promised to reveal who was asking but didn't, and claimed AI moderation filtered out bullying when it didn't. The order bans NGL from offering the app to anyone under 18 and required NGL to pay $5 million.
NGL is still available, and if it works for you, that's fine. If you'd rather not wonder which questions are real, here is how Poocho is different.
NGL and Poocho, side by side
What the FTC found about NGL, next to what Poocho commits to
- Questions in your inbox
- NGL (FTC findings, 2024)Sent computer-written messages made to look real
- PoochoOnly questions a person typed. Prompt ideas are labelled “From Poocho” and never land in your inbox
- Who asked
- NGL (FTC findings, 2024)Sold “hints” that didn't reveal the sender
- PoochoNo hints, clues or reveals, at any price
- Abuse
- NGL (FTC findings, 2024)Claimed AI moderation it didn't deliver
- PoochoEvery question is checked before you see it. Cruel ones go to a Filtered folder you choose whether to open
- Age
- NGL (FTC findings, 2024)Now barred from users under 18
- Poocho18+ only, for hosts and askers
What else you get
- Your rules. Choose Relaxed, Standard or Strict filtering, block your own words, or pause your inbox for a day.
- Anonymous, named or their choice. Decide per link whether askers stay hidden, give a name, or choose for themselves.
- Story cards. Five card styles at 1080 × 1920, each with your link on it, so the next question is one tap away.
- Your data, yours. Export every question and answer as JSON or CSV, or delete your account and everything in it.
- Hindi and English. Askers can switch the ask page to Hindi with one tap.
Switch in two minutes
Claim your link
Pick a handle on Poocho. Sign in with Google or a one-time email link; there's no password.
Set your rules
Choose who can ask, how strict the filter is, and any words you never want to see.
Swap the sticker
Share your “Ask me” card to your story and put your Poocho link on the link sticker where your NGL link used to be.
Answer as a card
Open a question, write your answer, pick a card and share it straight back to your story.
Why we wrote it down
Anonymous apps earn more when you keep opening them, which is exactly how fake questions and paid hints happened. Poocho put the opposite in writing in the Real Questions Pledge, and an automated test checks on every change that no code path can put a computer-written question in an inbox.
Get a link only real people can fill
Claim your Poocho link in about 30 seconds. Free, and for people 18 and over.
Get your linkQuestions people ask
Is NGL safe to use now?
The FTC's 2024 order bars NGL from users under 18 and from repeating the claims the FTC called deceptive. Whether it's right for you is your call. If fake questions or paid hints worry you, choose an app that rules them out in writing, like Poocho's pledge.
Does Poocho send fake questions to get me started?
No. A new inbox starts empty. Prompt ideas appear in their own panel marked “From Poocho” and are never delivered as questions.
Can I see who sent a question on Poocho?
Only if your link asks for names, or the asker chooses to show theirs. On an anonymous link you see the question and when it arrived, nothing else, and there's no paid way around that.
Is Poocho free?
Yes. Everything on this page is free.