According to news reports, Hsiao began his career by founding a credit information office in Kaohsiung. After being prosecuted for malfeasance but found not guilty in 1995, he went into the underground business of collecting personal data.
報導指出，蕭榮祥原本在高雄市開設徵信社，民國八十四年就曾因瀆職罪被檢方起訴，被判無罪後，蕭榮祥開始把蒐集個人資料的工作轉入地下。