Social commerce has been seeing exponential growth due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought a wave of cross-border commerce as consumers purchase more items online. Business uses social media to reach new markets by accessing potential global buyers, expanding their target markets, and increasing brand popularity. Cross-border e-commerce studies showed that perceived risk is a critical factor that reduces individuals’ willingness to purchase unfamiliar foreign products. We introduced an emerging business model, cross-border social commerce (CBSC) and examined the mitigation of perceived risk through trust transfer in a CBSC context. To capture consumers’ purchase intention of cross-border commerce, we conducted an online scenario-based survey. Survey respondents comprising a total of 321 social media users in Indonesia were observed. The results demonstrate that consumers’ trust can be transferred from friends and platforms to brands, and the transfer effect is contingent on the popularity of the brand. Our findings have crucial implications for trust transfer and cross-border social commerce. This study contributes to academia by introducing a new business model and advancing our understanding of how to enhance trust and mitigate risk. Practitioners can gain insight into trust building in CBSC context.