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How does a false signature turn an artwork into a forgery?

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Hear about William Henry Ireland's fake manuscripts of William Shakespeare including a letter written to his wife — Forgery A look at a letter supposedly written by William Shakespeare to his wife, Anne Hathaway; it was, in fact, faked by William-Henry Ireland.

In the context of art, a false signature is a primary method used to transform an object into a forgery. A forgery is defined as a work that purports to be the creation of someone other than its true maker, and the fundamental requirement for this classification is the "intent to deceive" for the purpose of fraud.1

Adding a fraudulent signature is a common tactic employed by unprincipled dealers or forgers to misrepresent an artwork's origin and increase its market value. This practice can occur in several ways:1

Direct Attribution: A forger may create a work in the style of a recognized artist and add a false signature to falsely attribute the piece to that master.1
Alteration: A dealer or forger might take an existing, less valuable work and add a signature, or even paint over an existing signature to replace it with one from a more profitable artist.12
Subversion of Authenticity: In some cases, artists themselves have complicated the notion of authenticity by signing blank canvases or papers before a work is even created, as seen in the case of Salvador Dalí.3

Ultimately, while the physical object may remain unchanged, the addition of a false signature creates a "spurious" work, perverting the truth of the artist's output and deceiving collectors or museums for financial gain.4